Edinburgh Napier University is looking to appoint a full-time Research Fellow for the prestigious EPSRC funded Programme Grant: COG-MHEAR, led by Programme Director (PD): Professor Amir Hussain, based in the School of Computing.

COG-MHEAR is a world-leading cross-disciplinary research programme funded under the EPSRC Transformative Healthcare Technologies 2050 Call. It includes academic partners from 6 other UK Universities and a strong User-Group comprising industrial and clinical collaborators, and end-user engagement organisations. The ambitious programme aims to develop the world’s first multi-modal hearing-aid demonstrator by radically exploiting and integrating the transformative potential of privacy-assuring and explainable AI, 5G, IoT and cybersecurity, coupled with flexible (skin-based) electronics.

Further information about the School of Computing can be found here. Additional facts and figures on the University can be found here.   

The role
The role involves taking a leading research role in one or more individual project in COG-MHEAR, under the direction of the Programme Director.

Main Duties and Responsibilities 

Reporting to the Programme Director, the post-holder will:

• Undertake world-leading research in one or more individual COG-MHEAR project, working on privacy-preserving machine learning, multi-modal speech enhancement and intelligibility evaluation for next-generation hearing-aids and assistive technology. Priority research areas include: 

o    Privacy-preserving and explainable machine learning and large-scale optimisation for real-time multi-modal speech enhancement and intelligibility evaluation.
o    Novel AI algorithms for exploring public/end-user perceptions of hearing-aids and other assistive-hearing technology, eliciting end-user requirements, development of real-world audio-visual (AV) speech-in-noise tests and clinical evaluation of AV hearing-aid prototypes. 
o    5G/Internet-of-Things (IoT)-enabled real-time speech enhancement and hearing-aid prototype development, including exploring flexible/quantum-electronics and multimodal wireless sensing for end-user cognitive load management.   

• Undertake management, supervision and administrative responsibilities associated with research duties
• Preparation of peer-reviewed publications for high-impact journals, conferences and dissemination of research results at international and national conferences. 
• Plan and manage own research activity in collaboration with other COG-MHEAR project teams 
• Participate in external research networks or appropriate events in order to build new relationships, exchange ideas and disseminate findings, including through the development of relationships with researchers, PhD students and COG-MHEAR User-Group members
• Regular liaison with other COG-MHEAR project researchers, our collaborating companies, clinicians and endusers in the User-Group to ensure overall programme goals are met
• Develop and contribute to proposals to secure future research funding 
• Undertake other activities as appropriate to COG-MHEAR, under the direction of the PD 

Who we are loo

king for
A highly motivated, dynamic and enthusiastic individual who brings:

• World-class research experience in artificial intelligence/machine learning, speech signal processing, computer vision and/or multi-modal signal/image processing
• A strong relevant publications record in top journals and conferences.
• A track-record of contributing to funding proposals and making effective independent contributions to collaborative research teams
• a demonstrated ability to solve real-world problems independently and make original contributions to research;
• Excellent programming and quantitative research and teamworking skills

For a detailed list of the requirements, please read the full role profile here. 

Informal inquiries can be made to Prof Hussain (a.hussain@napier.ac.uk) 

Benefits We Offer
Salary: £32,816 – £39,152 Grade 5-per annum In return, we offer a great working environment where we support ambition, recognise achievement and offer an attractive benefits package. 

Additional Information
Application Closing Date: 4th July 2021 (11:59pm BST) 

Interviews are likely to be held around mid-July, with a post start date of 1st August 2021.