Job Description

Job number

ENG03620

Faculties

Faculty of Engineering

Departments

Department of Computing

Salary or Salary range

43,003 - 56,345 per annum

Location/campus

South Kensington Campus - On site only

Contract type work pattern

Full time - Fixed term

Posting End Date

12 Aug 2025

About the role

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The Adaptive and Intelligent Robotics Lab (AIRL) in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London is seeking a talented Research Associate (post-doc) or Research Assistant (pre-doc) to work on a new project called TRUSTLINE, which is part of the Learning Introspective Control (LINC) DARPA Program. The project aims to develop machine learning (ML)-based introspection and monitoring technologies that enable robotic systems and critical infrastructures to detect and understand ongoing situations as they encounter uncertainty or unexpected events. The program also seeks to develop technologies to communicate these changes to a human or AI operator while retaining operator confidence and ensuring continuity of operations. The successful applicant will focus on developing and testing new methods to improve the deployment, adaptation capabilities and safety of robots and critical infrastructures. The developed algorithms will be evaluated on legged robots, wheel-based robots and under-actuated large-scale manipulators (e.g., container cranes).



For further information on Dr Antoine Cully's research and projects, see www.imperial.ac.uk/adaptive-intelligent-robotics

What you would be doing

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This project will be achieved by combining state-of-the-art algorithms from multiple domains such as evolutionary algorithms, reinforcement learning, and control theory. The main responsibility of the successful applicant will be the state estimation of the robotic system from external cameras. Familiarity with existing methods from these domains, such as Deep Learning, Quality-Diversity algorithms, reinforcement learning, model predictive control, parallel computing using JAX and rapid online learning, is highly desirable, but candidates demonstrating an ability and willingness to become familiar with these topics and able to contribute to them will also be considered. This project has a strong emphasis on applications on physical robots, experience and appetite to face the challenge of applying learning algorithms on physical robots are therefore required. One of the goals of this project is to commercialise.

What we are looking for

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You must have a strong computer science background and have experience in one or more of the following areas: Computer Vision, Robotics, Evolutionary Computation, Deep Reinforcement Learning, and Machine Learning. This should include a proven publication track record.



You should also have:


Research Associate: A PhD (or equivalent) in an area pertinent to the subject area, i.e. Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics. Research Assistant: A Master's degree (or equivalent) in an area pertinent to the subject area, i.e. Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics. A strong background in both robotics and/or machine learning, including experience conducting experiments on physical robots. Excellent programming skills are required and strong experience with the Python library JAX would be a plus. Experience writing and publishing academic papers.




Please see job description for a full list of requirements.


Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant, salary range 43,003 - 46,297 per annum.

What we can offer you

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You will have the opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution. Imperial College is consistently in the top 10 world university rankings with the Department of Computing ranked top of the 2021 UK REF assessment.



You will receive a sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 38 days off a year) and a comprehensive early career development support package including 10 training and development days.

Further information

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Full-time, Fixed term contract to start ASAP until March 2026.



Informal enquiries related to the position should be directed to Dr Antoine Cully: a.cully@imperial.ac.uk.



For queries regarding the application process contact Jamie Perrins: j.perrins@imperial.ac.uk

Available documents

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Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.

We reserve the right to close the advert prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.



If you encounter any technical issues while applying online, please don't hesitate to email us at support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk. We're here to help.

About Imperial

Welcome to Imperial, a global top ten university where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact.



Join us and be part of something bigger. From global health to climate change, AI to business leadership, here at Imperial we navigate some of the world's toughest challenges. Whatever your role, your contribution will have a lasting impact.



As a member of our vibrant community of 22,000 students and 8,000 staff, you'll collaborate with passionate minds across nine London campuses and a global network.



This is your chance to help shape the future. We hope you'll join us at Imperial College London.

Our Culture

We work towards equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination, and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities. You can read more about our commitment on our webpages.



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