Job Description

Job number

ENG03681

Faculties

Faculty of Engineering

Departments

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Salary or Salary range

49,017 - 57,472 per annum

Location/campus

South Kensington Campus - Hybrid

Contract type work pattern

Full time - Fixed term

Posting End Date

26 Sep 2025

About the role

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The post aims to investigate and develop technologies to improve digital accessibility for higher education students with blindness or low vision. We will take a co-design approach in this work, meaning that the successful candidate will meet with and interview low-vision students to identify shortcomings in current technologies and co-design several candidate hardware interfaces, which are likely to be based around non-vibratory haptic feedback. The proposed solutions will be fabricated, tested and iteratively developed, leading to a final working prototype.

What you would be doing

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In this role you will be developing new technologies to improve accessibility for blind and low vision students in higher education. The project aims to address the limited availability of higher education materials (e.g. PowerPoint Slides, forms, reference materials) in accessible formats. For example, the 2D layout of such materials on a screen / page is often important, yet this cannot be easily communicated via current screen readers.



You will be working directly with low-vision university students to better understand the shortcomings of current digital accessibility and then co-design candidate technology solutions, likely based around non-vibratory haptic technologies. You will then fabricate these interfaces and iteratively test them with the same students, eventually converging on a final working prototype.



This post is part of a Royal Society funded collaboration between Dr Ad Spiers of Imperial and Dr Emma Croft of Northumbria University. The post will therefore involve travelling to Northumbria University, Newcastle, several times to meet with students and collaborators.

What we are looking for

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You should either already have a PhD or about to be awarded one. Your experience should include design and fabrication related to haptics, robotics and/or HCI (Human Computer Interaction). You will have a good track record of publications that demonstrate this experience, preferably including user studies.



You will also have excellent interpersonal skills, which are necessary for conducting interviews and working alongside blind and low-vision students.

What we can offer you

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The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity. Grow your career: gain access to Imperial's sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression. Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days off a year and generous pension schemes). Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing.

Further information

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This post aims to start immediately and will take place in the Manipulation and Touch Lab, within the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The Manipulation and Touch Lab investigates manipulation in humans and robots, haptic sensing, haptic interfaces and machine learning. More information may be found at: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/manipulation-touch/


Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.*



This is a fixed term, full-time post up to 12 months.



If you require any further details about the role, please contact: Dr Ad Spiers - a.spiers@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.



Our values are at the root of everything we do and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate respect, collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation.