Exeter / Turing Research Fellow in Probabilistic Machine Learning

The College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences

This new full-time 3-year post is available from 01/10/2021 to 30/09/2024 on a fixed term basis.

The post

The College wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to participate in Project BlueBird, an exciting £13.75M, 5 year EPSRC Prosperity Partnership between NATS, Turing, Exeter and Cambridge. The EPSRC programme, which started in July 2021, is recruiting six post-doctoral researcher positions to be based at Exeter and Turing, across three themes which include (1) Digital Twin of UK Airspace (2) Multi-Agent Machine Learning Control of Air Traffic (3) Safe and Trustworthy Air Traffic Control. Links to all the roles available can be found on the project website: https://www.turing.ac.uk/research/research-projects/project-bluebird-ai-system-air-traffic-control

The data centric engineering group at Exeter (https://www.datacentricengineering.co.uk) is recruiting a 3-year post doc position to develop the Digital Twin of UK Airspace in the programme. This is a collaborative research position, consisting of 3 Post Doc positions and 3 software engineers. The aim of the theme is to build a data-driven simulator for all aircraft movements in UK airspace, from a data set of 20 million flight records over a 15-year period. This simulator will provide the modelling engine for the development for machine learning control algorithms developed in the wider programme.

The successful applicants will work within this team, which will be led and supervised by Professor Tim Dodwell (Turing AI Fellow at Turing & University of Exeter) and Professor Mark Girolami (Cambridge & Turing).

We welcome applications from a broad range of background include computer science, mathematics, statistics and engineering; with knowledge of statistical modelling, deep learning, optimisation, uncertainty quantification, physical based simulation and high performance computing.

For this theme, there are 3 positions available, two to be based at Turing and one at Exeter. If you are interested in these roles in general, we ask you to submit (the same) application to each position. Shortlisting and interviews will be carried out by identical panels.

About you

The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects, and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in machine learning and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required. Applicants will be able to work well in a team, and demonstrate a strong commitment to open, reproducible science and software development.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role by clicking on the attachment above.

The University of Exeter

We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 150 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2017.

Our research income in recent years means we’re the fastest growing UK Research University with some of the world’s most influential scientists, and we seek to answer some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today through this. 98% of our research is of international quality (2014 Research Excellence Framework). We encourage proactive engagement with industry, business and community partners to enhance the impact of research and education and improve the employability of our students. Exeter is one of only a few UK cities to have been designated as a UNESCO Creative City . In 2019, Devon was voted as having the best quality of life of anywhere in England and Wales, making it a popular choice for both work and study.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity at Exeter

With over 27,000 students and 6,400 staff from 180 different countries we offer a diverse and engaging environment in which to work. We are an equal opportunity employer, a Disability Confident employer and an Athena Swan accredited institution. Since 2019, the university has also signed an Armed Forces Covenant, demonstrating the University’s commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community. Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented in the workforce. 

What we can offer you

• Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines to produce internationally exciting research;
• Support teams that understand the University wide research and teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly
• An Innovation, Impact and Business directorate that works closely with our academics providing specialist support for external engagement and development
• Our Exeter Academic initiative supporting high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career
• A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), Paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a new Fertility Treatment Policy
• A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon

Further information

For further information please contact Professor Tim Dodwell, e-mail [email protected] or telephone (01392) 725 899.