Research Associate, Applied Machine Learning

OPPORTUNITY DETAILS

Total reward

0 $

State University

The Alan Turing Institute

Area

Central and Eastern Europe

Host Country

United Kingdom

Deadline

14 Feb 2021

Study level

Postgraduate

Opportunity type

Jobs

Specialities

Information technology and computer science , Mathematics

Opportunity funding

Not funding

Eligible Countries

This opportunity is destined for all countries

Eligible Region

All Regions

Company Description

The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute is named in honour of the scientist Alan Turing and its mission is to make great leaps in data science and artificial intelligence research in order to change the world for the better.

Position

The Turing has created a new Applied Machine Learning (AML) team to support and enable the delivery of the research sponsorship pillar of the partnership. The AML team will be a small, agile team of expert data scientist, machine learners and data science software engineers working on business inspired research challenges. The team will also act as a catalyst for collaboration with academic experts from across Turing network and broader research partners, and enable a high level of interactivity with Accenture Data Science Teams and relevant stakeholders.

The team will collectively have a broad range of expertise, and in Year One will initially be deployed to work on two key themes: Synthetic Data and Privacy Enhancing Technologies.

This role will be focussed on the challenge of Synthetic Data and will be responsible for work that enables the development of tools and examples to allow sharing of private datasets with a wider range of stakeholders, while preserving privacy.

You will be expected to perform high-quality research under the supervision of the principal investigator. Specifically, you will produce breakthrough research in this nascent field of research and contribute to publishing these results in top-rated journals and at national and international conferences, as appropriate. Dedicated (at 0.8FTE) to the Accenture Turing Strategic Partnership, the AML team will also play a part in tackling the broader, and related, research challenges of the Finance and Economics programme, providing a positive feedback loop into the Accenture-Turing partnership. This role reports to the Programme Director for Finance and Economics.

Synthetic Data

Datasets are often stored in silos spread across organisations and are not easy to share with outside entities (e.g. the academic community) or with different departments within organisations. Roadblocks to sharing are principally privacy constraints and regulatory requirements. This creates a challenge for developing, testing and monitoring complex data-driven decision-making processes.

This project will explore the use of synthetic data generators (SDGs) to produce high-quality data that preserves the statistical features of the original data set. Among other benefits, they enable users to share and link data, to work with data in safe environments, to fix structural deficiencies in data, to increase the size data, and to validate machine learning systems by generating adversarial scenarios.

BACKGROUND

The Finance and Economics programme brings together leading experts in data science, machine learning, finance and the social sciences, from both academia and industry to tackle the most challenging questions by producing world-leading research with significant impact. We inform public policy and enable trusted, research-led thought leadership. The programme works closely with government and the industry to exploit the potential of new technologies in the financial sector and economic research, and to position the UK as the leader in these areas.

We have recently launched a five-year Strategic Partnership with Accenture to advanced data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) research with a focus on delivering substantial business and societal value via: a) delivering value from AI and data; b) enabling safe and robust application of AI and; c) lowering barriers to AI adoption.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

The core responsibilities of the Research Associates are as follows:

Other duties:

The AML team may be expected to:

Requirements

Essential

Desirable

Other information

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

If you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button below. You will need to register on the applicant portal and complete the application form including your CV, covering letter and contact details for your referees. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact them on 020 3862 3575, or email recruitment@turing.ac.uk.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: 14 February 2021

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full-time post is offered on a fixed-term basis for two years. The annual salary is £35,000-£41,000 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant within the salary range £32,000-£34,000 per annum.

EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

The Alan Turing Institute is committed to creating an environment where diversity is valued and everyone is treated fairly. In accordance with the Equality Act, we welcome applications from anyone who meets the specific criteria of the post regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Reasonable adjustments to the interview process will be made for any candidates with a disability.

Please note all offers of employment are subject to obtaining and retaining the right to work in the UK and satisfactory pre-employment security screening which includes a DBS Check.

Full details on the pre-employment screening process can be requested from HR@turing.ac.uk.