Mechanical Engineering Sciences

Location: Guildford
Salary: £23,316 to £26,228 per annum pro rata 0.7 FTE or full time £32, 344 - £37,468
Fixed Term
Post Type: Part Time
Closing Date: 23.59 hours BST on Sunday 23 October 2022
Reference: 033222-R

The post of Post-Doctoral Research Fellow is available at the Space Technology for Autonomous and Robotic systems Laboratory (STAR-LAB) within the School of Mechanical Engineering Science of the University of Surrey, on a part-time 12-month contract or full-time 6-month contract funded by European Space Agency.

The successful candidates will contribute to research expertise of the STAR-LAB, and work on space robotics in relation to vision-based knowledge extraction for orbital and planetary surface environments. The postdoc is expected to develop AI or machine learning based techniques to support environmental perception of space scenes, such as in orbit or on extra-terrestrial surfaces. The researcher will also be involved in testing and validation of the developed software prototype using the orbital and surface robotics testbeds hosted at the STAR LAB (https://www.surrey.ac.uk/school-mechanical-engineering-sciences/facilities/ai-robotics-facilities) and potentially field trials.

The relevant research project involves collaborations with industrial partners (e.g. GMV global sites) and require formal reporting through publications and presentations on a regular basis within the project consortium. 

The applicants should have a bachelor’s degree (2^nd upper or above) and a PhD in relevant engineering disciplines. R&D experience in visual perception and AI robotics is required. The position requires strong programming background (in C/C++, Matlab, Python, etc), experimental hands-on abilities, and communication and team working skills.

For informal academic enquiries regarding the post, please contact the project PI Professor Yang Gao at yang.gao@surrey.ac.uk.

Further information on the STAR LAB can be obtained from the following website https://www.surrey.ac.uk/school-mechanical-engineering-sciences/research/star-lab.

Please upload your CV together with a covering letter.

Further details: Job Description

Please note, it is University Policy to offer a starting salary equivalent to Level 3.6 (£32,344) to successful applicants who have been awarded, but are yet to receive, their PhD certificate. Once the original PhD certificate has been submitted to the local HR Department, the salary will be increased to Level 4.1 (£33,309).