UE07: £40,247.00 - £47,874.00 Per Annum.
CSE / School of Informatics.
Fixed Term Contract - 2 Years.
Full Time - 35 Hours Per Week.
The Opportunity:
This post will be part of the Centre for AI for Assistive Autonomy, a mission-driven research centre established using a UKRI Turing AI World Leading Researcher Fellowship awarded to Prof Subramanian Ramamoorthy.
The post-holder will be the lead researcher anchoring laboratory activities in the area of surgical robotics addressing two parallel concerns. Firstly, the post holder will work on simulation and skill quantification methods to understand human expert skill in detail, enabling improved training and providing the basis for subsequent automation. Secondly, the post holder will develop new methods for task level autonomy in surgical robotic systems. This represents one of the main application themes within the centre, alongside assistive technology for activities of daily living, and autonomous vehicles.
The post holder will be supervised by the Centre Director (Ramamoorthy), with input on the clinical side from Prof Shervanthi Homer-Vanniasinkam (UCL and Leeds Teaching Hospital) and Prof Paul Brennan (NHS Lothian and University of Edinburgh). The post holder will also have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in a wide range of specialties across the University, including machine learning and vision, probabilistic programming, natural language understanding and interaction, computational cognitive science and neuroscience, as well as robotics and neurotechnology.
The central purpose of the job is to carry out research on AI for surgical robotics, covering two parallel concerns. Firstly, the post holder will develop methods to understand human surgical skill. Drawing on data from novel simulation and sensing systems, the post holder will develop methods for skill quantification. This involves the creative application of robot learning methods to characterise human expert skills in increasingly more complex surgical task domains. Secondly, building on this, the post holder will devise methods for task level autonomy in surgical robotics.
This work will build on an established track record and facilities available within the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics, and also draw on know-how and resources from the Leeds Teaching Hospital and UCL Bioengineering facilities.
The candidate is expected to take intellectual ownership of core scientific questions in this space, developing new ideas and driving collaborative projects towards significant publications.
The duties associated with this post will include:
* Undertaking a specific role in the research project under supervision (approx. 25%)
* Taking responsibility for some elements of the planned research (approx. 20%)
* Planning and carrying out a work programme appropriate to the research activity (approx. 20%)
* Developing own research portfolio in related areas (approx. 10%)
* Contributing to the writing of research grants (approx. 10%)
* Contributing to dissemination and publication of personal and/or research teams findings as appropriate (approx. 10%)
* Contribute to learning and teaching through activities such as project supervision, tutoring and marking (limited to no more than 5% on an annualised basis).
Your skills and attributes for success:
Essential:
* A PhD (or near completion) in robotics, preferably with a focus on robot learning
* An excellent track record of publications in top-tier journals or conferences in AI, robotics, or allied areas
* Excellent proven experience of developing field robotics systems involving robotic manipulation
* Ability to work effectively as part of a team, to meet deadlines, and to report on project progress
* Ability to communicate complex information clearly, orally and in writing.
Desirable:
* Research experience with methods for learning from demonstration or inverse optimal control
* Research experience with real-time perception and scene understanding methods
* Hands-on experience of designing and conducting field experiments, including human subject studies
* Demonstrated experience of the development and management of projects involving multiple stakeholders.
Application Information:
Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:
* CV
* Cover letter
Contact details for informal enquiries: Ram Ramamoorthy, s.ramamoorthy@ed.ac.uk
As a valued member of our team you can expect:
* An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
* To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
* Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives.
Championing equality, diversity and inclusion
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education.
Key dates to note
The closing date for applications is 10 January 2025.
Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT.
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