The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute is named in honour of the scientist Alan Turing and its mission is to make great leaps in data science and artificial intelligence research in order to change the world for the better.

We have two positions which will both focus on understanding the labour market dynamic from two different standpoints. This role will focus on the development of an extension to a pre-exisiting agent-based model (ABM) of labour market flows. The second role will perform an analysis of job skills within labour markets. If you are interested in the second role that centres around analysis, you can view that role here and apply https://cezanneondemand.intervieweb.it/turing/jobs/research-assistant--analysis-in-computational-social-science-27137/en/.

We are looking to recruit a Research Assistant to join the computational social science group within the Public Policy Programme. This position will centre on the development of an extension to a pre-existing agent-based model (ABM) of labour market flows.

Modelling labour activity in the economy crucially involves accounting for the higher-order interactions that exist among its individual components. Being able to quantify the strength of these higher order interactions and where they exist has provided us an edge over other modelling frameworks. However, there is still the need to incorporate these empirical findings into economic models to improve their reliability, generalizability, and predictions. The agent-based model currently developed by the S&R project to understand labour flows has enhanced our understanding of economic processes. However, further insights could be obtained from this model if it were extended to account for the impact of workplace skills on labour market dynamics. Through this extension, the model will be better able to capture the impact of shocks impacting the labour market (e.g. due to rapid technological advancement, or a global pandemic).

Within The Alan Turing Institute AI for Science and Government programme, ‘Shocks and Resilience’ project we are seeking to understand the impact of shocks on labour markets, in order to develop resilient economic policies. This project will constitute a meaningful contribution to this goal.

ROLE PURPOSE

We are looking for an outstanding PhD student or recent graduate from a PhD programme to join the team, with a strong background in the Python programming language, and experience with agent-based modelling. Ideally, the candidate will have some knowledge of labour dynamics, and have a keen interest in computational social science. The research assistant will have the opportunity to learn new technical skills and strengthen existing ones through the development of two projects and the supervision of an interdisciplinary research team.

The successful candidate will report to Dr Omar A Guerrero, Head of Computational Social Science Research, and will be supervised by Dr Kathyrn R Fair, Research Associate. Informal enquiries can be directed to Dr Omar A Guerrero ([email protected]).

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Extend an existing agent-based labour market model to better capture the role of skills in influencing movements within the labour market.
• Calibrate and validate such model using appropriate methodologies.
• Identify and curate data sources capturing the prevalence of long COVID within the UK labour force
• Perform simulations exploring the impacts of long COVID on labour market movements.
• Review and keep updated with research related to labour market modelling.
• Collaborate with the senior researchers and postdoctoral research associates overseeing the project to advance the research project described above.
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders in the development of the model, including policy-makers.
• Construct work plans to facilitate delivery of project objectives in a timely fashion.
• Prepare research outputs to disseminate this work to a broad range of audiences, including policy-makers, academic researchers, and the general public, and present these outputs at events and conferences.
• Participate in and contribute to the development of the broader body of research within the computational social science group.

• Currently undertaking a PhD in a relevant discipline or equivalent level of professional experience
• Experience developing agent-based models.
• Demonstratable background in the Python programming language
• Possess excellent communication skills with the ability to adapt to different audiences, as appropriate
• Ability to analyse stakeholder requirements and provide a high level of service when responding to queries
• Able to assess information and use it to support decision making
• Excellent writing skills and a proven ability to communicate research findings to diverse audiences.
• Ability to adopt appropriate data analysis methods for the purpose, and produce simple reports to present the findings

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

If you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button below. You will need to register on the applicant portal and complete the application form including your CV and covering letter. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact us on 020 3970 2148 or 0203 862 3340, or email [email protected].

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Wednesday 19 October 2022 at 23:59

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This part-time post at 20 hours per week is offered on a fixed-term basis until 31 March 2023. The annual salary is £36,235, pro-rated to £19,172 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits.

This post requires the successful candidate to be in post by mid-November or earlier.

Please note all offers of employment are subject to the candidate having and retaining the right to work in the UK, being able to start work based in the UK, and satisfactory pre-employment security screening which includes a DBS Check by no later than mid November.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The Alan Turing Institute is committed to creating an environment where diversity is valued and everyone is treated fairly. In accordance with the Equality Act, we welcome applications from anyone who meets the specific criteria of the post regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are committed to building a diverse community and would like our leadership teal to reflect this. We therefore welcome applications from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds.

Please note all offers of employment are subject to obtaining and retaining the right to work in the UK and satisfactory pre-employment security screening which includes a DBS Check.

Full details on the pre-employment screening process can be requested from [email protected].

If you are applying for more than one role at the Turing, please note that only one Cover Letter can be visible on your profile at one time. If you wish to apply for multiple roles and do not want to overwrite your existing Cover Letter, please apply for the role using the button below and forward your additional cover letter directly to [email protected] quoting the job title.

We are currently assessing the results of our hybrid working trial, which ran for six months. We will soon publish a long-term workplace policy: as a guide, we anticipate this will be between 2-4 days per month. Some roles may require the jobholder to spend a greater number of days in the office, but the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview