(1) Job Details
Job title: Research Associate
School: School of Informatics
Line manager: Principal Investigator
(2) Job Purpose
The SmartSociety project conducts basic and applied research into collective adaptive systems, integrating machine and human intelligence to solve complex societal problems.
Your role in the project will be to generalise an existing lightweight orchestration architecture for Web-based collaboration among humans and artificial agents. You will be expected to work toward the definition of an executable specification language that can be used to build such systems, as well as on its implementation and evaluation. This task involves a strong element of collaboration with other project partners.
You will also contribute to dissemination aspects of the project, such as assisting in the planning and coordination of dissemination activities for the whole consortium, monitoring the production of publications, managing the project web site, and maintaining relationships with other project partners.
You will work closely together with a team of four senior academics and two junior researchers involved directly in the project within the Centre of Intelligent Systems and their Applications at the School of Informatics.
(3) Representative Work Activities
In general, the work activities associated with the post are to support the Principal Investigator of a specific project in achieving the goals of the project, under her direction.
• Undertaking a specific role in the research project under supervision
• Taking responsibility for some elements of the planned research
• Planning and carrying out a work programme appropriate to the research activity
• Developing own research portfolio in related areas
• Contributing to the writing of research grants
• Contributing to dissemination and publication of personal and/or research teams findings as appropriate.
(4) Planning and organising
The post holder will have to agree a general plan of research with the Principal Investigator and progress will be monitored at pre-scheduled meetings.
(5) Problem Solving
The problems to be faced are purely scientific and you will supply the detailed expertise for delivering a solution. You will be expected to achieve this under instruction by and with advice from the Principal Investigator and other academic and senior research staff.
(6) Decision making
The post holder will determine the specific techniques and approaches to be used in the course of the research, in agreement with the Principal Investigator.
(7) Key contacts/relationships
The post holder will principally interact with the Principal Investigator and other project staff and students. More generally, you will discuss the work, and other questions of scientific interest, with other members of the project at other sites and with other members of the School of Informatics. The post holder will be expected to represent the University externally, by presenting your work at specialist meeting or workshops in the relevant research area. They may also be required to provide advice and support to relevant students.
(8) Knowledge, skills and experience
The post holder should have:
• A PhD (or near completion) in Computer Science or a related discipline.
• Expertise in one or more of the following areas – service-orientated computing, declarative methods and languages, workflow systems, Semantic Web technologies, and open/linked data.
• Proven ability to develop formal models of computation and reasoning, using, for example, logic-based formalisms, probabilistic models, or process calculi.
• Solid programming skills, especially in the area of RESTful web-based applications.
It would be beneficial for the post holder to also have:
• Experience with AI problem solving techniques (search, planning, constraint satisfaction), human-based and social computation, crowdsourcing, linked/open data, and/or distributed workflow systems.
• Advanced software engineering skills (formal specification, testing and validation, documentation, maintenance and evolution).
• Excellent teamwork and communicative skills, and enthusiasm about collaborating with a diverse range of international partners, which will involve a significant amount of travel.
(9) Dimensions
There are no line management responsibilities associate with this post.
Informal enquiries
Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr Michael Rovatsos (mrovatsos@inf.ed.ac.uk) for further information and to discuss their suitability for the post.
Application Procedure
All applicants should apply online by clicking the apply link at the bottom of this page. The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system allows you to submit a CV and other attachments.
Please ensure you submit a full CV with a detailed publication record, a personal statement, and PDF copies of up to three recent publications together with the other application materials.
We anticipate interviews will be held in mid-August. If you have not been invited for interview by then, we regret that you have not been successful on this occasion.
The closing date is 5pm GMT on Monday 4 August.
Eligibility to Work
In accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 the University of Edinburgh, as an employer, has a legal responsibility to prevent illegal working and therefore must check that all employees are entitled to work in the United Kingdom (UK).
To do so, the University of Edinburgh requires to see original documents evidencing right to work in the UK before commencement of employment and this is normally carried out at interview. Details will be provided in any letter of invitation to interview.
For further information on eligibility to work please visit our Eligibility to Work website
If you are not currently eligible to work in the UK, it may be possible for the University of Edinburgh to sponsor you to obtain a Tier 2 (General) visa to enable you to take up the appointment should you be successful at interview.
For applicants interested in sponsorship information is available on our Working in the UK website
However, if you have previously been sponsored by an employer within the UK but your leave has expired or lapsed and you are no longer in the UK, according to UK Border Agency rules you cannot apply for sponsorship under any category of Tier 2 for a period of 12 months after the date your visa expired and/or you left the UK.
Conditions of Employment
Pension Scheme
This role is grade UE07 and therefore the post holder is automatically included in membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), subject to the USS membership criteria, unless they indicate that they choose not to join the Scheme.
For further information please visit our Pensions website.
Salary
The role is grade UE07 and attracts an annual salary of £30,728 to £36,661 for 35 hours each week. Salary is paid monthly by direct transfer to your Bank or Building Society account, normally on the 28th of the month. Salaries for part-time staff are calculated on the full-time scales, pro-rata to the Standard Working Week.
The University reserves the right to vary the candidate information or make no appointment at all. Neither in part, nor in whole does this information form part of any contract between the University and any individual. |