Job title: Research Assistant – Full Time, Fixed Term (36 months)

Job reference: 0000018378

Date posted: 01/09/2022

Application closing date: 26/09/2022

Salary: £27,929 - £33,314 per annum (Grade 4)

Package: Excellent Benefits Package

Contractual hours: 37.5

Basis: Full Time

Job description

Further your Research career with Edinburgh Napier University.

We are currently looking for a Research Assistant to join our School of Computing on a full time, fixed term (36 months) basis to work on the “Trust and Privacy Preserving Computing Platform for Crossboarder Federation of Personal Date (TRUSTEE) project.”

The School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment have over 200 academics, 3,100 campus-based students, and deliver programmes with professional accreditations from the British Computer Society, Institution of Engineering and Technology, The Chartered Institute of Building and other accreditation bodies. We have excellent computing, engineering, and construction lab facilities.

The school is embarking on a major development in the area of Industry 4.0, bringing together computer science, engineering, mathematics, and construction technology. The School has one of the UK's largest computer science departments and it houses leading UK research centres in transport policy and sustainable construction. The School is based in the lively and exciting Merchiston area at the heart of Edinburgh, Scotland's inspiring capital.

The latest UK national research assessment, REF 2021, places our Computer Science research in the top-30 in the whole UK and 3rd best in Scotland (both in power ranking). In terms of research impact 100% of our work achieved the highest rating (4*), a performance achieved only by six other universities in the whole UK. According to the REF 2021 Edinburgh Napier University is the top ranking Scottish modern university for both research power and research impact.

The University’s improved research power rating will now see our research funding increase as we take significant strides to grow our reputation as a research-focused institution as well as a teaching one. We are confident that we are well on our way to establishing ourselves as one of the UK’s world-leading universities in research.

The Role

You’ll have the opportunity to work on the TRUSTEE project will bring a green, secure, trustworthy, and privacy-aware framework that will aggregate various interdisciplinary data repositories, such as Healthcare, Education, Energy, Space, Automotive, Cross-border etc. and also consider other European data federation spaces and trans-national initiatives, such as Gaia-X and EOSC.

The main objective is to create a blockchain-based transaction recorder to ensure accountability and a knowledge repository based on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). The post is a part of a joint Horizon Europe research project, supported by the UK Research and Innovation as part as of the Horizon Europe scheme guarantee.

You will use your existing knowledge and experience to conduct research to design, implement and evaluate novel distributed ledger implementations based on the Hyperledger Fabric and connect them with the InterPlanetary systems.

This is an excellent opportunity to work with experienced professionals from all over the world to build relationships and exchange ideas, and work on an exciting research project to enabling you to learn, develop and grow professionally.

Who are we looking for?

The ideal candidate will have:

• A PhD in a relevant research area such as distributed ledgers, distributed storage systems, security by-design or relevant Cyber Security area, or equivalent demonstrable research experience in a relevant area.
• Demonstratable experience of conducting research in the field of distributed ledgers.
• Demonstratable experience and or/good knowledge of Hyperledger Fabric.
• Demonstratable experience and or/good knowledge of InterPlanetary File System or similar protocols/peer-to-peer networks.
• A strong publication track-record demonstrating ability to write up research work for high-profile publications.
• Excellent skills in experimental design, experimental practice, and rigorous data analysis.
• Excellent programming skills (preferably in GO, Python).
• Excellent Latex/Overleaf skills.
• Experience of carrying out both independent and collaborative research.
• Experience of applying distributed ledger approaches in a variety of different application domains.

For a comprehensive list of the full responsibilities and requirements, click here.

Benefits we offer

Salary: £27,929 - £33,314 per annum (Grade 4)

Edinburgh Napier University is a forward-thinking institution, home to forward-thinking people, inspired by the world around us. Join us and you will find that we offer support and recognition wherever due, as well as fantastic benefits such as an attractive pension with employer contributions of 20.8% and a minimum of 36 days holiday.

There are professional development opportunities, discounted access to onsite sports facilities and a wide range of other staff discounts. For more information about our wide range of benefits, click here.

Additional Information

For informal discussions about this position, please contact Dr Nikolaos Pitropakis (N.Pitropakis@napier.ac.uk). For general enquiries, please contact the Recruitment team (recruitment@napier.ac.uk).

Closing Date: Monday 26 September

Interview Date: Friday 7 October

Edinburgh Napier is committed to creating an environment where everyone feels proud, confident, challenged and supported and are holders of Disability Confident, Carer Positive and Stonewall Diversity Champion status. For information see here.