Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, sharp, and innovative people who want to use their skills to contribute to our mission to make great leaps in data science and AI research to change the world for the better.

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The Health and Medical Sciences Programme at Turing delivers research into the theory and methods of AI, statistics, and data analytics underpinning medical and health applications that will enable scientists to do better science, without compromising respect for privacy and patient trust.

The Alan Turing Institute and Roche have recently launched a new programme which will establish a world-leading industry and academic partnership in advanced analytics focused on enabling the transformative benefits of personalized healthcare to become a reality for patients around the world.

This strategic partnership will cover multiple activities, with the “North Star” of developing new data science methods to investigate large, complex, clinical and healthcare datasets to better understand how and why patients respond differently to treatment, and how treatment can be improved. Understanding such “treatment heterogeneity” is a problem at the forefront of modern medicine and is an essential first step toward the ambitious goal of developing a personalised healthcare. Through the partnership, multiple avenues of research on heterogeneity in patient health data will be explored, the first of which focuses on structured missing data.

ROLE PURPOSE

We are looking to recruit into two positions. These are exciting opportunities for researchers with a strong background in statistical methodology and applied data analysis, who would like to grow that skill set further as well as collaborate as part of a diverse team comprising individuals across both academia and industry. The postholders will work at the Alan Turing Institute as part of a sizeable team of post doctoral researchers at the Turing led by Prof. Ben MacArthur and Dr Owen Rackham, working in close collaboration with Roche and Genentech scientists at Welwyn and San Francisco, alongside academics from affiliated institutes, including Dr Robin Mitra at UCL who leads a theme of work on “structured missingness” (see below).

The appointed candidates will focus on the analysis of large complex biomedical datasets, which is increasingly essential for scientific research. More specifically, one researcher will focus on developing robust methods to tackle missing data; while the second will focus on developing computationally efficient methods for learning from large and complex health datasets at scale.

The successful candidates will have hands-on experience in analysing complex large data sources and will be provided with the opportunity to develop their methodological research portfolio and expertise, and see their tools deployed to address real-world analysis challenges in both academic and industrial contexts. The postholders will work with a substantial team of researchers within the Turing-Roche partnership as well as researchers at Roche and Genentech in the UK, Basel and San Francisco and a number of senior academics associated with the Turing-Roche partnership.

This is a stand-out opportunity to closely interact with both The Alan Turing Institute as a prestigious, national research institute and Roche as one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, which will give you visibility of many facets of the pharmaceutical industry and support to develop a network of contacts in both academia and industry.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Undertake work including statistical analyses and relevant methodological research.
• Collaborate on projects with researchers at Roche/Genentech.
• Develop new methods and/or adapt existing methods to address complex missing data and computational statistics problems, including (but not exclusively) motivated from the Flatiron Health-Foundation Medicine clinico-genomic database.
• Publish the results of the methodological and applied research in high-quality journals and participate in national and international conferences.
• Disseminate research outputs to the Turing-Roche partnership team as well as research in the Roche Advanced Analytics group.
• Create new, or adapt existing, R / Python packages that implement the research methods developed.
• Actively follow and promote Turing policies, including those relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity.
• Adhere to and promote principles of reproducible and ethical data science and ensure secure handling of data and health and safety in all aspects of work

• A PhD (or equivalent experience and/or qualifications) in a relevant area such as Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, or related discipline
• Research Assistant level: must be near completion of PhD in a relevant area which include Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, or a related discipline
• Have knowledge of a wide range of statistical and/or deep learning methods used to model complex data
• Knowledge of the area of missing data and methodology to address missing data problems or knowledge and expertise in computation statistics or experience of applying deep learning with knowledge of the underlying theory
• Excellent computational skills with the statistical software R or Python
• Excellent written and/or verbal communication skills including the ability to present complex or technical information, and to communicate effectively with analysts and other stakeholders outside the research community

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 at [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.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Sunday 12 May 2024 at 23:59 (London, UK BST)

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

These full-time posts are offered on a fixed term basis for 24 months or until 30 June 2026 (whichever is earlier) and starting as soon as possible. The annual salary is £42,893 to £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

QUALITY, 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].