Cerem Global Business School

Dr Jonathan West is Associate Professor in Biomedical Microfluidics. Research is focussed on clinical translation and technology commercialisation to benefit patient care. Jonathan has patented a microfluidic method for understanding platelet activity with potential to predict thrombosis risk and associated heart attack and stroke risk. These are poised for commercialisation in readiness for clinical impact. Please contact Dr West (J.J.West@soton.ac.uk) if you have any queries regarding this role or would like further information. The Role The role involves using an advanced microfluidic technology to monitor the platelets of patients with sepsis or severe respiratory infection. The research entails working with our partners at University Hospital Southampton and commercial partners providing comprehensive flow cytometry data sets to benchmark the microfluidic technology. What We Can Offer You Committed to supporting our teaching and research community we are open to flexible working. With an understanding that there is a need to be on campus for teaching duties we are open to a hybrid approach. We give full consideration to applicants that wish to work flexibly including part-time and those who have taken a career break. Proud to be a founding signatory of the Athena Swan gender equality charter we hold an institutional Silver award. As a university we aim to create an inclusive environment that attracts, supports and retains the best students and staff from diverse backgrounds and experiences from across the world. We are proactive in fostering a culture of inclusion, respect and equality of opportunity. We believe that we can only truly meet our objectives if we are reflective of society, so we are passionate about creating a working environment in which you are free to bring your whole self to work. As well as additional benefits that will make your life easier, such as a generous holiday allowance and additional university closure days. We will support your long-term future too, with access to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), subsidized health and fitness facilities and a range of discounts.

The Role and Department The successful candidate will be based in the Department of Computer Science, Durham University - ranked in the top 10 for Computer Science, Complete University Guide 2025 (Durham University ranked 5th overall). The Department holds an Athena Swan Silver award, highlighting its commitment to promoting equality across in Science, Engineering and Technology. In the UK REF 2021 research assessment exercise, 97% of our research outputs were classified world-leading or internationally excellent (REF 2021). The Department of Computer Science hosts well-equipped labs with on-site capabilities comprising vehicle-mounted sensors, drone operations, on/off-road robotics, high-precision geo-localisation, bio-signal data collection, X-ray security scanning, virtual reality and on-demand wide-area surveillance video feeds. In addition Durham University hosts the UK regional supercomputer Bede (128 NVIDIA V100 + 3 NVIDIA Hopper GPUs) in addition to the pan-university Hamilton GPU resource (8 NVIDIA H200 NVL) which both complement our departmental NVIDIA CUDA Compute Cluster (80+ GPUs up to NVIDIA A100) to cater for the increasing GPU compute demands of modern AI-driven research projects. Applications are invited for a full-time Research Assistant in Computer Vision and Machine Learning (Visual-AI) with a particular emphasis on deep learning for anomaly and out of distribution detection. The post-holder will join Prof. Toby Breckon's research team at Durham University, for an initial fixed-term period of 24 months, funded by an ongoing portfolio of research work primarily spanning aspects of open-world object detection and anomaly/outlier detection for use in both wide-area visual surveillance, aviation security and sensing for future autonomous vehicle/robot sensing (in collaboration with a number of partners). The successful applicant will be expected to to work on common themes of deep machine learning research with applications across several active research streams within the group. They will consider the use of cutting-edge deep learning algorithms for object detection and tracking, anomaly detection and other generalized data understanding tasks (e.g. behaviour understanding and/or materials discrimination) across a range of imaging modalities. Specifically, they will investigate novel aspects of these tasks, develop software algorithms, and manage their own academic research in addition to collaboration with a range of external industrial and government collaborators. The post the offers an outstanding opportunity to gain a strong research track record in an exciting and fast-moving area of applied computer vision and machine learning whilst working in an environment with high levels of external collaboration and industrial research impact.

As a University of Applied Learning, SIT works closely with industry in our research pursuits. Our research staff will have the opportunity to be equipped with applied research skills that are relevant to industry demands while working on research projects in SIT.  About the DIGNIFIED programme The DIGNIFIED programme is dedicated to developing elderly-friendly, textured modified foods with desirable organoleptic and nutritional properties. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for elderly individuals by creating innovative, nutritious, and visually appealing food products that cater to their specific dietary needs. Job Description:  We are seeking a highly motivated Research Engineer to join our team for a fixed-term project. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and validating objective texture testing methods that can accurately categorize foods within the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) framework, with a specific focus on Level 5 (Minced & Moist). This role will involve designing custom test fixtures, conducting practical laboratory work, and performing data analysis to create a robust and reliable testing protocol. Key Responsbilities: Conduct a comprehensive literature review on food rheology, texture analysis, particle analysis, image analysis and the IDDSI framework. Design and execute experiments to develop new instrumental texture analysis methods suitable for IDDSI Level 5 foods. Validate new methods against existing standards and a sensory panel to ensure accuracy and clinical relevance. Collect, analyze, and interpret data from instrumental and sensory evaluations. Document all experimental procedures, findings, and analyses in technical reports and prepare presentations to industry stakeholders and manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Collaborate with a research team, including food scientists, clinicians, and engineers, to ensure the developed methods are practical and clinically relevant. Job Requirements: A degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field. A Master's or Ph.D. in a related research field is advantageous. Experience with instrumental texture, image analysis and particle sizing techniques (e.g., texture analyzers, universal testing machines) is highly desirable. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Proficiency in material characterization techniques, such as stress-strain characterization. Proficiency in analysis software (e.g., Microsoft Excel, R, or other statistical software). Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to work independently and as part of a team. Demonstrated commitment to strong research ethics and data integrity