🎓 Advisor

Dr. Jinjin Gu will join the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) in Sofia, Bulgaria as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in 2025. He received his B.Eng. from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHKSZ) (2020) and Ph.D. from The University of Sydney (2024). His research focuses on visual perception, visual processing, visual generation, and visual reasoning, with 40+ publications in CVPR, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, and TPAMI. He has over 11,000 citations and an H-index of 31. In 2024, he was named among the top 2% of scientists worldwide by Stanford University, and received the Yunfan Rising Star Award at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in 2023.

🏛️ About INSAIT

INSAIT – Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology, located in Sofia, Bulgaria, is the first of its kind in Eastern Europe to offer world-class research facilities and conditions. Founded in April 2022, INSAIT operates as a special unit of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" with its own regulations and governing boards.

The institute was established in partnership with ETH Zurich and EPFL, two of the world's leading technical universities, and is closely advised by top academics from elite U.S., European, and Israeli universities and research labs. INSAIT receives generous support from industry leaders including Google, Amazon Web Services, DeepMind, SiteGround, and VMware.

With a sole focus on scientific excellence, INSAIT is dedicated to conducting world-class research, attracting outstanding international scientists, and training the next generation of graduate students and technology leaders. The institute provides comprehensive support including full scholarships and zero teaching obligations to enable researchers to focus entirely on pushing the boundaries of science.

📚 Research Areas

• Visual Perception and Processing: Image/Video Restoration, Computational Photography, Image Quality Assessment
• Visual Generation: Theoretical Foundations, Interpretability, Low-Level Vision Applications
• Visual Reasoning and Intelligence: Vision-Language Models, Pre-training & Post-training, Multimodal Reasoning
• Intelligent Agentic Systems: Multimodal AI Agents, Human-AI Collaboration

Open Positions

🎯 1. Postdoctoral Researchers

Postdoctoral researchers will be responsible for conducting innovative research and publishing in top venues, mentoring Ph.D. students, and leading and collaborating on various research projects.

Highlights: ~€60,000–80,000/year, independent office, top-tier computing resources (100+ NVIDIA H200 GPUs and planned 1000+ NVIDIA GB200 Grace Blackwell GPUs), and potential to co-found startups

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Computer Vision, Image Processing, Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning, Speech Processing, or related areas
• Self-motivated with strong passion and vision for research; Demonstrates critical thinking and curiosity to explore unknowns; Capable of conducting independent research; Strong sense of responsibility and excellent teamwork skills
• Strong research experience in computer vision and machine learning, with high-impact publications in top-tier conferences (CVPR/ICCV/ECCV/NeurIPS/ICLR) or journals (TPAMI/TIP)
• Strong English reading, writing and communication skills; Ability to independently write research papers and reports
• Entrepreneurial spirit is a plus

🎯 2. Ph.D. Students and Visiting Scholars

INSAIT provides talented individuals the unique opportunity to engage in world-class research with the goal of becoming independent scientists and technology leaders. The duration of the PhD is up to 5 years.

Highlights: ~€40,000 annual stipend, no teaching duty, high-performance compute access (100+ NVIDIA H200 GPUs and planned 1000+ NVIDIA GB200 Grace Blackwell GPUs)

Qualifications:

• Self-motivated with strong passion and vision for research; Demonstrates critical thinking and curiosity to explore unknowns
• Outstanding academic performance in Computer Science, Electronic Engineering or related fields (Bachelor's or Master's degree)
• Research experience in computer vision, machine learning or low-level vision; Publications and research projects are preferred
• Strong programming skills with proficiency in deep learning frameworks like PyTorch; Programming competition awards or engineering development experience is a plus

📬 How to Apply

If you are interested, please send an email to Dr. Gu: jinjin.gu@sydney.edu.au

Email subject format: “[Position]-[Your Name]-[Institution Name]-[Qualification (Bachelor/Master/PhD)]”

In your email, briefly describe your motivation and highlight any creative ideas that showcase your potential. Attach your CV, academic rankings, awards, and research experience. All materials must be in English.

Note: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

If you meet the qualifications, we will proceed with the formal application process at INSAIT.

🔗 Visit INSAIT Website