Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco is recruiting a Professor in Machine Learning for its College of Computing, known as COLCOM. The UM6P professor in machine learning job is open at any rank, assistant, associate or full professor, and covers either theoretical or applied machine learning. It is permanent and full time, and the deadline is 20 November 2026. You apply through the online form on the Times Higher Education advert with a cover letter, CV, research and teaching statements and at least three referees.
The salary figure is not published, but UM6P lists a benefits package that includes housing, tuition fees, insurance, retirement provision and a research budget. For researchers looking for professor jobs in Africa with real research money behind them, UM6P is one of the better-funded options on the continent. Here is what the advert asks for, what COLCOM is, and how to pitch your application at the right rank.
UM6P machine learning professor job at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Job title | COLCOM: Professor in Machine Learning |
| Employer | Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, College of Computing |
| Location | Benguerir, Morocco (COLCOM also has a presence in Rabat) |
| Rank | Assistant, associate or full professor |
| Field | Machine learning, theory or practice |
| Contract | Permanent, full time |
| Salary | Competitive; figure not stated |
| Benefits | Housing, tuition fees, life and medical insurance, retirement, maternity leave, sabbatical, research budget |
| Visa sponsorship | Not mentioned in the advert |
| Posted | 21 October 2026 |
| Deadline | 20 November 2026 |
About UM6P and the College of Computing
UM6P was founded in 2013 by the OCP Foundation and opened officially in January 2017, according to Morocco World News. Its main campus is in Benguerir, inside the Mohammed VI Green City, about an hour’s drive north of Marrakech. It also has a campus in Rabat and offices in New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The College of Computing aims to build an international-level research and teaching programme across computer science, from algorithms and databases to cloud computing, machine learning, operating systems and security. That wording comes from a 2025 COLCOM advert, and the current advert says the machine learning post is part of the same effort. Earlier COLCOM adverts list both Rabat and Benguerir as locations; the 2025 advert gives a Benguerir address (Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid). Ask which campus this post is based on before you plan a move.
| Fact | Figure and source |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013, by the OCP Foundation (Morocco World News) |
| THE World University Rankings 2027 | 376th to 400th (THE profile) |
| Students in THE data | 2,650 |
| Student to staff ratio | 7 to 1 (THE 2027 data) |
| International students | 7% (THE 2027 data) |
| Computing infrastructure | African Supercomputing Center, home to the Toubkal system on the TOP500 list |
The student count in THE data is much lower than the 8,756 students UM6P reported in 2025 coverage, because THE counts only students that fit its own definitions. Use the university’s figure if you cite size.
Why this matters for a machine learning researcher
A 7 to 1 student to staff ratio, a supercomputer on campus and a research budget for each professor are unusual in African higher education. That combination is the main reason to look at UM6P seriously. The trade-off is location. Benguerir is a small, purpose-built university town, so if you want a big-city life you would spend weekends in Marrakech or Casablanca.
What the job involves
- Research: build and lead a research team of graduate students in machine learning.
- Teaching: teach undergraduate and graduate courses.
- Programme building: help COLCOM grow an internationally oriented computing programme.
The advert does not give a start date or say who the post reports to. Ask both questions at the first interview.
Requirements
| Type | What the advert asks for |
|---|---|
| Essential | A PhD from a recognised university |
| Essential | Substantial expertise in machine learning (theory or practice) |
| Assistant professor | Strong research potential |
| Associate or full professor | An established record of outstanding research |
| Basis of selection | Academic accomplishments |
The advert says nothing about language. Ask which language the courses you would teach are delivered in. Arabic and French are widely used in daily life in Morocco, so some French helps outside the campus.
Salary and benefits
The advert says “competitive salaries” without a figure, and UM6P does not publish a pay scale for faculty. The benefits it lists are:
- Housing.
- Tuition fees, which in context usually means children’s schooling.
- Life and medical insurance.
- Retirement provision.
- Maternity leave.
- Sabbatical.
- A research budget allowance for professors.
The 2025 COLCOM advert added that some benefits depend on rank. The advert does not mention visa or work permit support for foreign staff. Foreign staff in Morocco generally need an approved work contract and a residence card, so ask UM6P how it handles both and who pays the fees.
How to apply for the UM6P professor in machine learning job
- Write a cover letter: state the position you are applying for and the rank you are targeting.
- Prepare a detailed CV: publications, grants, students supervised and teaching.
- Write brief research and teaching statements: one to two pages each is enough when the advert says “brief”.
- List at least three referees: with full contact details. Get their consent first; the advert expects it.
- Complete the online form: on the Times Higher Education advert, enter your name and email and upload your CV (.doc, .pdf, .docx or .rtf, up to 1MB). Upload the other documents as supporting files and add a cover message.
- Submit by 20 November 2026.
1MB file limit
The CV upload on the application form is capped at 1MB. Export your CV as a compressed PDF and check its size before the last day. Never pay anyone or share bank details to apply; THE advises you to report any such request.
How many referees to prepare
The current advert asks for at least three. A 2025 COLCOM professor advert asked for 3 referees for assistant professor, 5 for associate and 7 for full professor. If you are applying at a senior rank, have five or seven ready in case UM6P asks.
Which rank should you apply for?
Because the post is open rank, you choose where to pitch yourself, and pitching wrongly can cost you. A rough guide that matches how most research universities read files:
| Your profile | Rank to target |
|---|---|
| PhD in the last few years, postdoc experience, first-author papers in good machine learning venues, no independent grants yet | Assistant professor |
| Several years as a faculty member, students graduated under your supervision, grants as principal investigator, a recognised research line | Associate professor |
| Long record of leading a group, international standing in your subfield, sustained funding, senior service | Full professor |
If you sit between two levels, apply at the lower one and make the case for the higher one in your cover letter. Committees are more comfortable promoting a strong candidate at offer stage than lowering one who aimed too high. This is general advice, not a UM6P rule.
How to write the research statement
Keep it short and concrete.
- Your question: the problem your work tackles, in one paragraph a non-specialist could follow.
- What you have shown: two or three results with your best papers or code releases.
- Your plan for the next five years: two or three projects you would run at COLCOM, with the students and computing you would need.
- Fit with UM6P: how your work links to areas the university invests in, such as agriculture, mining, energy, health or African languages, if that is honest for your field.
- Funding: grants you have won and those you would target from Morocco.
Sample opening line, for illustration only: “My research develops sample-efficient learning methods for settings where labelled data is scarce, and at UM6P I would apply them to agricultural and climate data that African institutions already hold.” Make yours match your actual field.
The teaching statement should list courses you can teach at both levels, such as introductory machine learning, deep learning, probabilistic methods or optimisation, and how you would supervise graduate projects.
What the selection process looks like
The advert does not describe the stages. For faculty posts, universities usually shortlist from the written file, hold a first online interview, then invite finalists to give a research seminar and a teaching session, often on campus. Reference checks come near the end. Treat this as the general pattern, not UM6P’s published process.
Common mistakes
- Not saying which rank you are applying for. The post is open rank, so the committee needs to know.
- A CV over 1MB that the form rejects.
- Research statements that ignore the local context. You don’t need to change field, but show you have thought about what COLCOM is building.
- Naming referees who haven’t agreed to be contacted.
- Assuming the job is in Rabat. Check the campus.
Who should apply and who shouldn’t
Apply if you hold a PhD with a clear machine learning focus and a publication record in good venues. Assistant professor candidates need strong potential; senior candidates need an established record. Researchers from Africa or the diaspora who want to build a lab on the continent, and international researchers who value a research budget and low teaching ratios, are both a good fit.
Don’t apply if machine learning is a side interest rather than your main field, or if you need a large city and a mainly English-speaking environment for family reasons. Students looking for graduate funding in Africa should read our guide to scholarships for African students instead.
Similar computing and AI faculty jobs
| Role | Institution | Salary | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| COLCOM Professor in Cyber Security / Privacy | UM6P, Morocco | Not stated | 20 November 2026 |
| Open Rank Faculty Positions in Computer Science | MBZUAI, Abu Dhabi | Competitive | 30 June 2027 |
| Full/Associate/Assistant Professor in Artificial Intelligence | University of Macau | MOP 855,400 to 1,250,200 a year | 22 December 2026 |
| Postdoc in Computational Catalysis, Machine Learning and Reaction Kinetics | UM6P, Morocco | Not stated | 6 November 2026 |
UM6P machine learning professor: FAQs
What is the deadline for the UM6P professor in machine learning job?
The deadline is 20 November 2026. Apply through the form on the Times Higher Education advert.
What is the salary of a professor at UM6P?
UM6P does not publish a figure. The advert promises a competitive salary plus housing, tuition fees, insurance, retirement, sabbatical and a research budget.
Can a new PhD graduate apply?
Yes, at assistant professor level, if you can show strong research potential in machine learning. The post is open rank.
Is UM6P a good university?
UM6P is placed 376th to 400th in the THE World University Rankings 2027, with a 7 to 1 student to staff ratio in THE’s data. It was founded in 2013 and invests heavily in research infrastructure.
Sources and updates
Checked on 29 October 2026 against the Times Higher Education Unijobs listing for this role (listing 416789), THE’s World University Rankings 2027 profile of UM6P, UM6P’s own news page on its THE ranking, an earlier COLCOM professor advert from 2025 on Academic Positions, and Morocco World News coverage from October 2025 on UM6P’s history and size. We will update this page if UM6P changes the deadline.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
