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.

Please find more information about us here.

Currently, Turing is undergoing a restructuring, moving towards a challenge-led model with three Grand Challenges (Health, Environment & Sustainability, Defence & National Security), underpinned by cross-cutting Fundamental Research. This new Turing 2.0 model focuses on world-class science and innovation and aims to generate high-quality research and translate it into real-world impact and deployment.

The Health Grand Challenge aims to become a transformative agent for the NHS and global healthcare through advanced AI solutions. Our vision is to harness the untapped innovation potential within the UK, driving significant healthcare impact and positioning the UK as a global leader in AI and healthcare integration. The Grand Challenge is structured into three themes: Knowledge, Action, and Impact (KAI), each focusing on critical areas where AI can revolutionise healthcare. These themes have the following initial incarnations:

1. Knowledge: Transforming how we harness and combine data-driven methods from millions of operational NHS patient records with exabytes of national biobank resources to create a unique multi-modal multi-domain foundation model with support from national AI compute resources to create a globally unique generative AI. We are seeking here people interested in working on next-generation foundation models, multi-modality multi-domain generative AI and fusion.
2. Action: Transforming how AI can intervene in healthcare to lighten the decision and action burden on clinician. This focuses on using operational data from patient state and clinician's actions to use methods from offline reinforcement learning, casual learning, system identification, data-centric biomedical engineering and digital twins. The approach is currently already being deployed in critical care and mental health AI systems, and we seek to deepen and broaden these to other domains of medicine.
3. Impact: Focussing on developing the underpinning AI technology platforms that enables us to combine vast distributed data sources in a privacy-preserving manner, shape AI and human interaction and cooperation.

We are seeking highly skilled Senior Research Associates with backgrounds in machine learning, AI, statistics, control engineering, natural language processing, and medical image understanding to join us in this pioneering endeavour. Specific research will be based in one of the three initial themes and may involve activity in the following topics:

• Large Health Models beyond large language models that comprise multi-modal and multi-domain models
• Next generation sequential data modelling beyond transformers
• Uncertainty Quantification
• Domain Adaptation & Transfer Learning
• Model Calibration
• AI for data curation
• Behaviour Analytics
• Mobile & Wearable Health Systems
• Explainable and Interpretable AI
• Safe & Trusted AI including methods for model assurance and validation
• Causal Inference & Learning from Biomedical Data
• Human-AI cooperation & interaction
• Data-centric Biomedical Engineering
• Data-derived Digital twins
• Offline Reinforcement Learning
• Multi-modal, multi-domain foundation models
• Privacy Preserving Machine Learning

ROLE PURPOSE

The primary purpose of this role is to contribute to the Grand Challenge in Health by advancing Knowledge, Action, and Impact. As Senior Research Associates, you will leverage your expertise to develop innovative AI models and solutions that address complex healthcare problems. You will work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team to drive forward the Institute's vision of transforming healthcare through AI, ensuring that research outcomes have practical, real-world applications and impact.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Provide technical project management and leadership for research projects, ensuring successful outcomes
• Liaise with clients and colleagues to understand and prioritise project goals, and balance client value with research outputs
• Define the research direction in collaboration with Principal Investigators (PIs).
• Be a point of contact, supporting PIs in engaging with stakeholders regarding projects and deputising in meetings where necessary.
• Take the lead on writing up findings as they emerge, producing and developing reports, and developing publications in peer reviewed journals, in collaboration with the research team.
• Lead on the preparation of proposals and applications to external bodies, e.g., for funding and contractual purposes.
• Present, disseminate and explain our work at meetings/events and contribute to both the internal and external visibility of the Institute.
• Take responsibility for driving collaboration with academic experts and broader research partners from across the Turing, and the wider Turing / project community.
• Supervise the work of junior members of the team and provide guidance as required
• Line manage direct reports if required

Specific to the project/programme/role:

Research and Development

• Play a leading role in undertaking high-quality independent research, actively contributing, and steering to the broader research aims of the Health Grand Challenge
• Undertake high-quality cutting-edge research in AI, machine learning, statistics, control engineering, natural language processing, and medical image understanding
• Develop and implement novel algorithms and models that align with Knowledge, Action, and Impact
• Collaborate with other researchers to integrate multimodal and multi-domain data into comprehensive AI solutions

·Collaboration and Communication:

• Work closely with healthcare professionals, data scientists, and engineers to translate research findings into practical healthcare applications.
• Present research outcomes at national and international conferences and publish in high-impact journals.
• Engage with stakeholders across the NHS and global healthcare sectors to ensure alignment and impact of research activities.

·Mentorship and Supervision:

• Provide guidance and mentorship to PhD students and junior researchers.
• Supervise research projects and contribute to the academic development of team members.

Please see the job description for a full breakdown of the role and person specification.

• A PhD (or equivalent experience and/or qualifications) in a relevant area, which will include Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning, Statistics or similar inter-disciplinary subjects.
• Proven research experience in machine learning and AI
• Expertise in natural language processing and medical image understanding
• Knowledge of reinforcement learning and causal statistics
• Evidence of high-quality publication(s) in a relevant field (published or in-press) commensurate with your career stage
• Substantial research experience in their field of expertise with commensurate output.

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. The covering letter should address:

• Why you are applying for this position
• How you qualify for this position (see criteria under “Person Specification”)
• Publication list (if not covered in CV)

If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact us on 020 3862 3536 or email [email protected].

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2024 AT 23:59 (LONDON, UK BST)

Interviews are expected to take place from week commencing 30 September 2024.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This post is offered on a full time, fixed-term basis for 3 years. The annual salary is £55,184 - £63,971 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits.

The Turing operates a hybrid model. We would like the successful candidate to be in our office (London) 3 days per week.

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 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].