Knowledge transfer from expert to robot

Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology

Location:  Lincoln
Salary:   From £28,331 per annum
This is full time, fixed term post of 1 FTE for 6 months from start date
Closing Date:   Saturday 07 November 2020
Interview Date:   Friday 27 November 2020
Reference:  COS784

The University of Lincoln is seeking to appoint a new Research Assistant (RA) to join Cancer Research UK (CRUK) funded project on 'Breast Cancer Examination-Knowledge transfer from expert to robot' (ARTEMIS), within Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems (L-CAS), the world's leading centre in agri-food robotics. The ARTEMIS project aims to develop a novel knowledge transfer framework for transferring palpation actions performed by experts to a robot with dissimilar kinematic. The RA will  have the opportunity to collaborate with a professional team of researchers. We will use state-of-the-art equipment and implement cutting edge algorithms to perform palpation of deformable objects and creating a stiffness map of the object. We will have the chance to test our developed technology on different testing scenarios (including breast phantoms) with different sensing devices. As part of this role, you will contribute to the project in collaboration with Imperial College London and the University of Bristol. The successful candidate will contribute to the University’s ambition to achieve international recognition as a research-intensive institution and will be expected to deliver the strawberry detection and weight estimation system as well as design, conduct and manage original research in the above subject areas as well contribute to the wider activities of L-CAS. Evidence of authorship of research outputs of international standing is essential, as is the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, including excellent written and spoken communication skills. Opportunities to teach and supervise postgraduate students, including our MSc programme in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, may also be available to outstanding candidates. 

We are looking to recruit a high calibre postdoctoral Research Associate with relevant experience and/or a strong interest in research areas such as:

• robot grasping and manipulation;
• robot learning;
• Deep learning;
• Robotic vision;
• transfer learning;
• reinforcement learning;
• haptics and tactile sensing;
• robot control;
• system integration, including ROS. 

The post holder may be required to help supervise the work of some junior researchers. Applicants should have (or expect to soon obtain) a PhD in a relevant area. You must have excellent mathematical and coding skills (C++/Python, ROS). The post offers the opportunity to engage in national collaboration within an ambitious team, to work with state-of-the-art robotic hardware and software, and to benefit from excellent support to produce and disseminate original research contributions in the leading international conferences and journals. 

The successful candidate will contribute to the University’s ambition to achieve international recognition as a research-intensive institution and will be expected to design, conduct and manage original research in the above subject areas as well contribute to the wider activities of L-CAS. Evidence of authorship of research outputs of international standing is essential, as is the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, including excellent written and spoken communication skills. Opportunities to teach and supervise postgraduate students, including our MSc programme in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, will also be available to outstanding candidates. 

The post-holder will benefit from excellent facilities, equipment and ready-made links to our extensive network of industry partners across the agri-food chain and collaborative team working environment. This post will be fixed term for 6 months with excellent opportunities for ongoing career development and progression. The successful candidate will contribute to the University’s ambition to achieve international recognition as a research-intensive institution and will be expected to design, conduct and manage original research in the above subject areas as well contribute.

Informal enquiries about the post can be made to Dr Amir Ghalamzan (aghalamzanesfahani@lincoln.ac.uk).

As an institutional Athena SWAN Bronze Award holder, we are committed to advancing gender equality in STEM, therefore female applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.