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.

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.

Hoffman La-Roche (Roche) as a company have been committed to improving lives since it was founded in 1896 in Basel, Switzerland. Today, Roche creates innovative medicines and diagnostic tests that help millions of patients globally and was one of the first companies to bring targeted treatments to patients.

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.

ROLE PURPOSE

We are recruiting for two prestigious Turing-Roche Senior Research Associate positions to support and grow this partnership. Candidates recruited to these roles will work closely with both the Turing leadership and senior leadership of Roche and will play a central part in shaping the direction of the partnership. In addition to contributing to ongoing research projects they will be provided with significant time and support to develop their own research agenda aligned to the partnerhsips’ goals (50% FTE will be provided for this purpose).

The successful candidates will contribute to developing and shaping the direction of research in the partnership, including working with Turing and Roche scientists on established research projects. Additionally, they will be provided with the freedom and support to develop their own research agenda, in areas of relevance to the partnership. Potential areas of research include, but are not limited to, analysing multi-modal clinic-genomic data, understanding uncertainty in prediction models, and applications of medical imaging.

The successful candidates will form part of the Turing’s Health and Medical Sciences programme team, led by Director Professor Chris Holmes and Deputy Director Professor Ben MacArthur and supported by the Business Team for the programme. They will work closely with colleagues at the Turing and advanced analytics leaders and scientists at Roche and will have the opportunity for regular interactions with the partnerships’ advisory group of senior academic experts.

As well as working closely with colleagues at the Roche site at Welwyn within the UK, they will be supported to travel internationally to collaborate with Roche colleagues at other sites (particularly, San Francisco and Basel). The successful candidates will be expected to spend some time working at one or more of the Roche sites to develop relationships and an increased understanding of the pharmaceutical industry.

This is a stand-out opportunity to join a prestigious, national research institute and shape its agenda at an important and exciting time in its development. Working within the partnership will give the successful candidates visibility of many facets of the pharmaceutical industry and support to develop a network of contacts in both academia and industry. As well as being exposed to a variety of analytical methodologies and applications within the partnership they will also have the freedom to develop their own area of aligned research under the mentorship from senior leraders in both academia and industry.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• To assist with the development and delivery of an ambitious programme of research for the Turing-Roche partnership, including generating high quality research outputs, aligned with the aims and objectives of the partnership.
• To undertake a high-quality quality independent research which will support the partnership in its goal of understanding patient heterogeneity
• Write or contribute to publications or disseminate research findings using other appropriate media
• To communicate research outputs to diverse stakeholders, through conferences, events, meetings, and press opportunities as appropriate.
• To work closely with the Turing and Roche communications teams to disseminate and publicise key findings, communicating complex ideas through a variety of mediums.
• Present research updates at meetings both within the Turing and Roche, and contribute to both the internal and external visibility of the partnership and the Institute.

• A PhD (or equivalent experience and/or qualifications) in a relevant area which will include Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, or related discipline
• Substantial experience in statistical modelling and/or data analytics on significant real-world problems
• Substantial experience of using modern statistical programming languages (such as R and Python)
• Experience in working with modern artificial intelligence technologies
• Experience of developing and documenting analysis workflows for scientific research projects
• Ability to perform relevant literature reviews

Please see our portal for a full breakdown of the Job Description.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full time post is offered on a fixed term basis for 3 years. The annual salary is £46,700 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.

In line with current Government guidance, most of our organisation is currently working remotely. When Government guidance changes, we will trial a Hybrid Working Model for an initial six-month trial period. During this period, staff will be expected to work at our British Library office for a number of days per month, dependent on the requirements of the role. As a guide, we anticipate this will be between 2-4 days per month, but the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

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, covering letter and contact details for your referees. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact them on 020 3970 2148 or 0203 862 3340, or email [email protected].

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Tuesday 1st February 2022, 23:59.

Interviews are expected to take place on Wednesday 16th February 2022.

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.

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.

Reasonable adjustments to the interview process will be made for any candidates with a disability.

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].