Department of Computer Science

Location:      Egham
Salary:      £35,333 to £41,743 per annum - including London Allowance
Closing Date:      Friday 01 March 2019
Interview Date:      To be confirmed

Outstanding candidates in Robotics are invited to apply for a post of Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science at Royal Holloway University of London.

The Department, established in 1968 (one of the oldest Computer Science departments in the world), is one of the top departments of Computer Science in the UK. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014), it scored 11th for the quality of our research output, with a third of the publications recognised as world-leading and a further half internationally excellent (87% in total). The Department is home to outstanding researchers in algorithms and complexity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, bioinformatics, distributed and global computing, software language engineering and type theory.

Over the past five years, the department has undertaken an ambitious plan of expansion: fourteen new academic members of staff were appointed, new undergraduate and integrated-master programmes were created, and five new postgraduate-taught programmes were launched. The department is involved in multiple inter/multidisciplinary activities, from electrical engineering to psychology and social sciences.

The position is funded by the Innovate UK grant “Connect-R - Providing Structure in Unstructured Hazardous Environments” (TS/S017623/1), held by Dr Sara Bernardini, in the context of the program “Robotics and AI: Inspect, Maintain and Repair in Extreme Environments”. The project will be carried out by a consortium including other universities (University of Edinburgh), industry (Barrnon, Tharsus, Jigsaw Structures and Ross Robotics) and end users (UK Atomic Energy Authority). The Connect-R team will develop an industrial-scale, self-building, modular, autonomous robotic solution to provide robotic access to work-sites in hazardous environments such as Nuclear Decommissioning, Oil and Gas, Mining and Space systems.

The successful candidates will hold a PhD or equivalent, have a strong research record in Robotics and a strong interest in practice-driven research. Experts in Cognitive Robotics, Autonomous Systems, AI for Robotics, Robot Perception and Sensor Data Fusion are particularly encouraged to apply. Experience in engaging with industry or contributing to outreach activities would also be valuable. The duties and responsibilities of this post include conducting individual and collaborative research on the themes of the project, developing software based on the needs of the project, and producing high-quality outputs for publication in high-profile journals or conference proceedings.

In return we offer a highly competitive rewards and benefits package including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement 
• Training and Development opportunities
• Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution 
• Various schemes including Cycle to Work, Season Ticket Loans and help with the cost of Eyesight testing. 
• Free parking 
• Competitive Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave provisions

The post is based in Egham, Surrey where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London, Europe’s most dynamic technology hub. This is a full-time and fixed term post (extensions are possible), available from March 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Dr Sara Bernardini on sara.bernardini@rhul.ac.uk or +44-1784-276792.

To view further details of this post and to apply please visit http://www.cs.rhul.ac.uk/home/sara/projects.html and https://jobs.royalholloway.ac.uk. For queries on the application process, the Human Resources Department can be contacted by email at: recruitment@rhul.ac.uk

Royal Holloway recognises the importance of helping its employees balance their work and home life by offering flexible working arrangements. We are happy to consider a request for flexible working for this post including part time, job share or compressed working hours.

The College is unable to obtain permission to work in the UK for this post. Therefore all applicants must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK if they wish to apply.

Please quote the reference: 0219-050

Closing Date: Midnight, 1 March 2019

Interview Date: To be confirmed

Please note that it will not be possible for the College to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for successful candidates as this role does not fall into one of the standard occupational codes deemed eligible for sponsorship by UK Visas and Immigration. Successful candidates will therefore need to be eligible to work in the UK or have limited leave to remain in the UK and associated right to work for the duration of their employment with the College, in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

We particularly welcome female applicants as they are under-represented at this level in the Department of Computer Science within Royal Holloway, University of London.