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The Alan Turing Institute is looking to recruit a Research Associate to work with an interdisciplinary team to develop autonomous decision-making solutions for scientific research questions, under the open-source research project entitled “AI and Autonomous Systems for Biodiversity Monitoring”. The project stems from the observation that global biodiversity decline is a critical issue facing humanity, and, in consequence, biodiversity monitoring is essential to understand the functioning of ecosystems, as well as impacts of human activities and climate change, and to develop policies to address this decline. The goal is to develop real-world exemplars of AI-driven Biodiversity Monitoring, selected to leverage existing effort towards this direction and address outstanding technical challenges in key areas of autonomous marine monitoring and citizen science-led terrestrial monitoring.

ROLE PURPOSE

The Research Associate will work closely with an interdisciplinary team of senior scientists, domain experts, and other Research Associates at the Turing, as well as external collaborators. The candidate may be from a scientific or computer science background. Their role will be to develop algorithms for adaptive sampling in the context of autonomous monitoring missions via underwater vehicles (e.g. gliders). The candidate will work on the work package of the project “AI and Autonomous Systems for Biodiversity Monitoring” that focuses on equipping pilot-less AUVs with advanced information gathering capabilities to optimise the quantity/quality of the data collected, while satisfying safety and environmental constraints using newly developed algorithms (greedy approaches, AI planning, probabilistic reasoning, and reinforcement learning).

The Research Associate will play an active role in the technical meetings that will take place between the partner institutions, establishing a robust platform for developing future programmes between environmental science researchers, The Alan Turing Institute and the wider scientific community. This is a collaborative research role and so it is crucial that the candidate enjoys working with others and is responsive within an interdisciplinary research environment.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

The selected candidate will be expected to work closely with the project leaders, and to:

• Undertake research on autonomous decision-making for adaptive sampling missions with underwater vehicles within the context of the project “AI and Autonomous Systems for Biodiversity Monitoring”.
• Produce high-quality publications for dissemination of the work to the wider academic community as well as research reports to document the work undertaken during the project.
• Develop software to implement decision-making algorithms for adaptive sampling.
• Run experiments as appropriate to demonstrate the performance of such algorithms.
• Work collaboratively with researchers, senior investigators from across the Turing and external partners on the project.
• Build upon open and accessible tools for the scientific research community.
• Manage and engage with open-source collaborative code on GitHub.
• Help create a friendly and approachable community of experts, datasets and engineers, and facilitate integration with Turing's research programmes.
• Attend and present research findings and papers at conferences, and to contribute to the external visibility of the Turing.
• Participate in the organisation of research workshops and other events.

• Research Associate level: A PhD degree or equivalent professional experience in a field with significant elements of autonomous decision-making (e.g. AI planning, probabilistic reasoning) and/or machine learning.
• Research Assistant level: Near completion of a PhD or equivalent level of professional experience in a field with significant elements of autonomous decision-making and/or machine learning.
• Fluency in at least one programming language.
• Familiarity with one or more machine learning toolsets (e.g. SciKit Learn, JAX, TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.) or autonomous decision-making toolsets (e.g. PDDL planners).
• Experience in managing, structuring, and analysing research data.
• Evidence of algorithm development for scientific research.
• Evidence of high-quality publication(s) in a relevant field (published or in-press) commensurate with your career stage.

Please see the Job Description for a full breakdown of the duties and responsibilities as well as the Person Specification.

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. In your covering letter please can you include the following:

• Why you want to work at the Turing
• How your previous experience would help the project
• Clear examples of your previous work on autonomous systems
• Which publication your are most proud of, and why

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].

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.

If you are an internal applicant and wish to apply, please send your CV and Cover Letter directly to [email protected] and your application will be considered. Please make sure that you include a Cover Letter with your application.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Wednesday 16 August at 23:59

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early or to interview suitable candidates before the closing date if enough applications are received.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full-time post is offered on a fixed term basis for 3 years. The annual salary is £42,893 - £48,510 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits. Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant at a salary of £40,148 per annum.

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. We expect staff to come to our office at least 4 days per month. Some roles may require more days in the office; the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

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 team to reflect this. We therefore welcome applications from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds.

We are committed to making sure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive. This includes making reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or long-term condition. Please contact us at [email protected] to find out how we can assist you.

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].