Job Description

Overview of the project


Lancaster University/Lancaster University's School of Mathematical Sciences is seeking to appoint a Senior Research Associate for the

Responsible AI in Modern Online Educational Testing project. This is a full-time post with funding for 12 months. We would like someone that can start as early as possible.


The Duolingo English Test (DET) (https://englishtest.duolingo.com/applicants) is an AI?powered, fully online and adaptive English?language assessment that hundreds of thousands of learners use each year. This project is centred around the fairness and quality control of their testing platform by developing statistical methods that continuously monitor exam data to detect suspected behaviour.


You will help build a change?point detection framework that can distinguish between genuine changes, like evolving question difficulty or new cohorts of test?takers, and the anomalous spikes that signal potential compromise. You will have access to anonymized item?response data and Duolingo's adaptive?testing platform, ensuring that our methods are both sound and scalable.


Lancaster University will provide dedicated high?performance computing resources and expert supervision from faculty with strengths in statistics, machine learning and psychometrics. Your findings are expected be published in top-tier journals and presented at international conferences.


Role responsibilities


As part of this funded project, you will be responsible for:

Developing change-point detection methodology for computerised adaptive testing data Developing code that implements the methods developed in a way which supports reproducible research practice. Writing up the research findings for journal publication and international conference presentations

About you


We are keen to hear from candidates who have:

a PhD in statistics or a closely related field experience of latent variable modelling, categorical data analysis, streaming data, log-file data analysis, change-point detection demonstrable ability to publish, including the ability to produce high-quality academic writing strong computing skills, including programming in python/R/C or equivalent languages. motivation, passion and resilience to ensure the robustness of the project's results.

Why work with us


This research project is located within the School of Mathematical Sciences at Lancaster University. In the most recent REF evaluation (REF 2021), 100% of our research impact was ranked "outstanding" (joint 1st in the UK). Find out more about the department here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/maths/.


Lancaster is a friendly, affordable city in North-West England. We're within two hours' travel of most major UK cities and surrounded by scenic mountains and coastline.


Find out about our employee benefits and life at Lancaster on our website - https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/jobs


Contract and contact


This post is offered on a full-time, 12-month contract. We are happy to talk about flexible working.


To find out more about this position, and an informal chat about the role, please contact Dr. Gabriel Wallin, Lecturer in the School of Mathematical Sciences and Principal Investigator: g.wallin@lancaster.ac.uk.