Research Associate in computational imaging Heriot-Watt University, Institute of Signal, Sensors & Systems

Research Associate in computational imaging Location Edinburgh, GB Organization Name Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems About Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages. With a history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and practical, leading-edge research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry. We connect with industry at every level and develop programmes to match their needs – so employers get work-ready industry-fit graduates. Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort. We have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership, and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities. For full details on our University please view our Careers at Heriot-Watt http://www.hw.ac.uk/about/careers-at-heriot-watt.htm About our Team The University Defence Research Collaboration is a £4M project delivering a programme of research focusing on “Signal Processing in the Information Age” developing new mathematical Signal Processing (SP) techniques to better transform data across many domains into actionable information and meet the requirements for improved situational awareness, information superiority, and autonomy. Pursuing advancements in the areas of scalability, adaptivity, multi-modality, resource management and modern machine learning, we will develop the underpinning SP technology for future military and homeland security applications. This project will be based in the Edinburgh Consortium, which involves the University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, and Heriot-Watt University, and Queen’s University Belfast. The significant UK investments in a network enabled capability offers the opportunity to dramatically improve sensing and information gathering capabilities. The project is jointly funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and UK Ministry of Defence through its Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). The project will also work closely with our industrial partners: BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo, QinetiQ, SeeByte Ltd. and Roke Manor, as well as with other members of the defence industry, in order to provide exploitation routes for technology pull-through. The programme of research has been divided into 3 research tracks with 8 work packages (WP) designed to have direct relevance to defence. Overall we are currently looking to recruit 8 Research Associates for the UDRC project and these will be based at the 5 leading centres; the Institute for Digital Communications at the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh; Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh; Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems, Heriot-Watt University; Centre for Signal & Image Processing, University of Strathclyde; Centre for Data Science and Scalable Computing, Queen’s University Belfast. This research associate position will be based in the Institute for Sensors, Signals and Systems (ISSS) at HWU is a leading research institute in the areas of robotics, microsystems, communications, and signal and image processing. ISSS has more than 30 academic staff, 70 RAs and PhD students, all active in internationally recognised research and knowledge transfer. Research focus spans from foundations of computational data science to sensor design, and to their application to surveillance; human behaviour inference; detection and tracking; Lidar range imaging; collaborative robotics; driver assistance via multi-modal sensing; and medical and astronomical imaging. ISSS is part of the ERPE in conjunction with IDCOM and was identified as internationally excellent in REF 2014 – see above. ISSS has significant UKRC and EU grant and fellowship support, leads the EPSRC Robotics and AI ORCA hub and the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics programme and is HWU host for UDRC phase 2. Detailed Description This research position will investigate Bayesian uncertainty quantification tools for linear inverse problems across a range of scales. In the first instance this research will be primarily illustrated by computational imaging applications involving data under-sampling, high (non-standard) noise sources and observed phenomena which are non-stationary. While most existing uncertainty quantification tools simply measure image quality, it is often unclear how such measures translate into uncertainty about the information of interest, e.g., the presence or movement of an object or anomaly, as intended in this work. Typical application scenarios include hyperspectral imaging, low-photon imaging/ranging (single-photon Lidar) and radiation monitoring (nuclear safety). The researcher will be supervised by Prof. Yves Wiaux in the Institute for Sensors, Signals and Systems along with Prof. Steve Mclaughlin and Dr Yoann Altmann. They will work closely with other UDRC researchers and interact regularly with our project partners in the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and other industrial companies. Key duties and responsibilities · Co-ordinating his or her research work within the framework defined by the project and investigator. (65% of time). · Dissemination of research findings through internal reports, conference proceedings, and journal publications. This will include domestic and international travel and support of meetings at the University of Edinburgh and other UDRC Consortium locations and Dstl (Porton Down) (20% of time). · Interact with other researchers who are working on the UDRC project and proactively engage with Dstl and industrial project partners. Organise his or her own work and time in order to meet the deadlines and milestones as defined within the project (15%) · Work with the line manager to define and plan a programme of relevant research work and then to produce publishable results within appropriate timescales · Work independently to plan the schedule of tasks to ensure that work of the projects progresses according to agreed overall timetable · Organise own time so that different aspects of the project can proceed in parallel giving due consideration to the needs of other members of the team · Be proactive in interacting with project partners to share data and ideas · Take a leadership role in regular project meetings to report and review progress, and to generate new ideas and lines of research · Determine the aims, objectives and deadlines for short to medium term work plan, in discussion with the Line Manager (particularly for medium term planning). · Contribute to long-term strategic planning and development of group activities, in discussion with the Line Manager and other researchers. · Be resourceful in overcoming problems encountered in the development of new approaches and the implementation of existing techniques in the normal course of the research. · Define the methodology to solve the problems in the project. · Work in close cooperation with the other project investigators, project partners, technical staff, and PhD students working on the project to resolve problems, as required. · The post-holder should be able to organise his/her work schedule to ensure satisfactory progress and to meet the demands (where realistic) of other project partners, PhD students, etc. The successful candidate will play an important role as a member of the team in making daily decisions about their own plan of work and the allocation of time and resources. · Manage day-to-day work load, making independent decisions about immediate priorities to meet short and medium term targets that have been agreed with Line Manager. · Frequent (daily to weekly) contact with other researchers in the project team and relevant research groups including academic staff, other researchers and PhD students. · Regular (weekly to monthly) contact with other researchers working on relevant problems in the University of Edinburgh. · Regular (typically monthly) contact with key stakeholders, likely to include Dstl and industrial partners. · This project will require the researcher to attend progress meetings and workshops to present their research results. They will also be expected to attend conferences to present their findings to the wider research community. The researcher may be asked to become involved in the supervision of MSc student projects and PhD students if appropriate. Education, qualifications and experience Essential Criteria · A good undergraduate degree and a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, or related discipline, with a focus on signal processing / Data Science, or a closely related area · Proven track record of research in signal processing / Data science, with a specific focus on computational imaging or a closely related area. · Capable of working collaboratively with researchers from different disciplines or technical background. · Capable of working independently, exercising a high degree of initiative and demonstrating a pro-active and flexible approach to work. · Ability to work under pressure and meet agreed milestones. · Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships. · Good time-keeping and time-management, with associated effective prioritisation of tasks. · Good communication skills; oral, writing and presentation of data. · Ability to contribute ideas and initiate new ways of working. Desirable Criteria · Ability to be adaptive and accepting of new ideas and a willingness to approach new challenges and adjusts plans to meet new priorities. · Practical experience of working in a research project involving academic and industrial partners. How To Apply Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 21st October 2018 At Heriot-Watt University we understand that being diverse makes us better which is why we support a culture of respect and equal opportunity, and value diversity at the heart of what we do. We want to increase the diversity of our workplace to underpin a dynamic and creative environment. We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options. Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University. Minimum Salary 32236 Maximum Salary 39609 Currency GBP Amount of Travel If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Computeroxy Apply

Research Associate in computational imaging

Location Edinburgh, GB

Organization Name Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems

About Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages.

With a history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and practical, leading-edge research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry. We connect with industry at every level and develop programmes to match their needs – so employers get work-ready industry-fit graduates.

Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.

We have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership, and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities.

For full details on our University please view our Careers at Heriot-Watt http://www.hw.ac.uk/about/careers-at-heriot-watt.htm

About our Team

The University Defence Research Collaboration is a £4M project delivering a programme of research focusing on “Signal Processing in the Information Age” developing new mathematical Signal Processing (SP) techniques to better transform data across many domains into actionable information and meet the requirements for improved situational awareness, information superiority, and autonomy. Pursuing advancements in the areas of scalability, adaptivity, multi-modality, resource management and modern machine learning, we will develop the underpinning SP technology for future military and homeland security applications. This project will be based in the Edinburgh Consortium, which involves the University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, and Heriot-Watt University, and Queen’s University Belfast. The significant UK investments in a network enabled capability offers the opportunity to dramatically improve sensing and information gathering capabilities.

The project is jointly funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and UK Ministry of Defence through its Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL). The project will also work closely with our industrial partners: BAE Systems, Thales, Leonardo, QinetiQ, SeeByte Ltd. and Roke Manor, as well as with other members of the defence industry, in order to provide exploitation routes for technology pull-through.

The programme of research has been divided into 3 research tracks with 8 work packages (WP) designed to have direct relevance to defence. Overall we are currently looking to recruit 8 Research Associates for the UDRC project and these will be based at the 5 leading centres; the Institute for Digital Communications at the School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh; Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh; Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems, Heriot-Watt University; Centre for Signal & Image Processing, University of Strathclyde; Centre for Data Science and Scalable Computing, Queen’s University Belfast.

This research associate position will be based in the Institute for Sensors, Signals and Systems (ISSS) at HWU is a leading research institute in the areas of robotics, microsystems, communications, and signal and image processing. ISSS has more than 30 academic staff, 70 RAs and PhD students, all active in internationally recognised research and knowledge transfer. Research focus spans from foundations of computational data science to sensor design, and to their application to surveillance; human behaviour inference; detection and tracking; Lidar range imaging; collaborative robotics; driver assistance via multi-modal sensing; and medical and astronomical imaging. ISSS is part of the ERPE in conjunction with IDCOM and was identified as internationally excellent in REF 2014 – see above. ISSS has significant UKRC and EU grant and fellowship support, leads the EPSRC Robotics and AI ORCA hub and the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics programme and is HWU host for UDRC phase 2.

Detailed Description

This research position will investigate Bayesian uncertainty quantification tools for linear inverse problems across a range of scales. In the first instance this research will be primarily illustrated by computational imaging applications involving data under-sampling, high (non-standard) noise sources and observed phenomena which are non-stationary. While most existing uncertainty quantification tools simply measure image quality, it is often unclear how such measures translate into uncertainty about the information of interest, e.g., the presence or movement of an object or anomaly, as intended in this work. Typical application scenarios include hyperspectral imaging, low-photon imaging/ranging (single-photon Lidar) and radiation monitoring (nuclear safety).

The researcher will be supervised by Prof. Yves Wiaux in the Institute for Sensors, Signals and Systems along with Prof. Steve Mclaughlin and Dr Yoann Altmann. They will work closely with other UDRC researchers and interact regularly with our project partners in the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and other industrial companies.

Key duties and responsibilities

· Co-ordinating his or her research work within the framework defined by the project and investigator. (65% of time).

· Dissemination of research findings through internal reports, conference proceedings, and journal publications. This will include domestic and international travel and support of meetings at the University of Edinburgh and other UDRC Consortium locations and Dstl (Porton Down) (20% of time).

· Interact with other researchers who are working on the UDRC project and proactively engage with Dstl and industrial project partners. Organise his or her own work and time in order to meet the deadlines and milestones as defined within the project (15%)

· Work with the line manager to define and plan a programme of relevant research work and then to produce publishable results within appropriate timescales

· Work independently to plan the schedule of tasks to ensure that work of the projects progresses according to agreed overall timetable

· Organise own time so that different aspects of the project can proceed in parallel giving due consideration to the needs of other members of the team

· Be proactive in interacting with project partners to share data and ideas

· Take a leadership role in regular project meetings to report and review progress, and to generate new ideas and lines of research

· Determine the aims, objectives and deadlines for short to medium term work plan, in discussion with the Line Manager (particularly for medium term planning).

· Contribute to long-term strategic planning and development of group activities, in discussion with the Line Manager and other researchers.

· Be resourceful in overcoming problems encountered in the development of new approaches and the implementation of existing techniques in the normal course of the research.

· Define the methodology to solve the problems in the project.

· Work in close cooperation with the other project investigators, project partners, technical staff, and PhD students working on the project to resolve problems, as required.

· The post-holder should be able to organise his/her work schedule to ensure satisfactory progress and to meet the demands (where realistic) of other project partners, PhD students, etc. The successful candidate will play an important role as a member of the team in making daily decisions about their own plan of work and the allocation of time and resources.

· Manage day-to-day work load, making independent decisions about immediate priorities to meet short and medium term targets that have been agreed with Line Manager.

· Frequent (daily to weekly) contact with other researchers in the project team and relevant research groups including academic staff, other researchers and PhD students.

· Regular (weekly to monthly) contact with other researchers working on relevant problems in the University of Edinburgh.

· Regular (typically monthly) contact with key stakeholders, likely to include Dstl and industrial partners.

· This project will require the researcher to attend progress meetings and workshops to present their research results. They will also be expected to attend conferences to present their findings to the wider research community. The researcher may be asked to become involved in the supervision of MSc student projects and PhD students if appropriate.

Education, qualifications and experience
Essential Criteria

· A good undergraduate degree and a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, or related discipline, with a focus on signal processing / Data Science, or a closely related area

· Proven track record of research in signal processing / Data science, with a specific focus on computational imaging or a closely related area.

· Capable of working collaboratively with researchers from different disciplines or technical background.

· Capable of working independently, exercising a high degree of initiative and demonstrating a pro-active and flexible approach to work.

· Ability to work under pressure and meet agreed milestones.

· Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships.

· Good time-keeping and time-management, with associated effective prioritisation of tasks.

· Good communication skills; oral, writing and presentation of data.

· Ability to contribute ideas and initiate new ways of working.

Desirable Criteria

· Ability to be adaptive and accepting of new ideas and a willingness to approach new challenges and adjusts plans to meet new priorities.

· Practical experience of working in a research project involving academic and industrial partners.

How To Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 21st October 2018

At Heriot-Watt University we understand that being diverse makes us better which is why we support a culture of respect and equal opportunity, and value diversity at the heart of what we do. We want to increase the diversity of our workplace to underpin a dynamic and creative environment.

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

Minimum Salary 32236

Maximum Salary 39609

Currency GBP

Amount of Travel

If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Computeroxy

Apply