Research Associate, Project FAIR: Verification and Accountability

This full-time post is offered on a 3-year fixed-term basis (potential extension for a further 1-year term subject to a review at the end of year 3). The annual salary is £38,000-£44,000 (depending on experience) plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits
 

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, sharp, and innovative people who want to use their skills to contribute to our mission to make great leaps in data science and AI research to change the world for the better. Please find more information about us here
 

POSITION

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. 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. The programme is led by the Programme Director, Lukasz Szpruch.

The programme has recently received a significant investment from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to deliver one of eight business-led “Prosperity Partnerships”. This will see the Turing, HSBC, and other organisations in the financial sector developing a Framework for responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the financial services industry (FAIR). FAIR brings together academia and industry to advance research and develop practical and scalable solutions needed to fully realise the transformational benefits of responsible adoption of AI across the financial services industry.

We are driven by our vision to enable the finance sector to leverage transformational benefits through the responsible adoption of AI by:

• Developing an actionable framework for safe and trustworthy deployment of AI in Financial Services, underpinned by foundational research methodologies formulated by cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral teams.
• Developing digital sandbox environments to enable validation and testing and co evaluation of emerging technologies in a transparent manner.
• Identifying industry-wide standards and processes to address trade-offs between regulatory and ethical dimensions facing industry and regulators across a range of contexts and use-cases.

FAIR has five main research themes:

1. Robustness and Resilience
2. Privacy and Security
3. Fairness and Transparency
4. Verification and Accountability
5. Integration Environment

Find out more: FAIR: Framework for responsible adoption of artificial intelligence in the financial services industry.

The Turing are hiring a team of Research Associates to support and enable the delivery of the five main research themes under the direction of the Turing Programme Director, and the project PIs. The team will collectively have a broad range of expertise, and we will be hiring based on varied skills required for each specific challenge.

We are looking for a Research Associate to support and enable the delivery of the Verification and Accountability theme under the direction of Lukasz Szpruch and Marta Kwiatkowska.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Develop and apply state-of-the-art robust machine learning methodologies to tackle business-inspired research challenges of the Turing partnerships.
• Scope, pilot and deliver high quality research activity under the Direction of the Principal Investigator and Programme Director.
• Drive collaboration with academic experts and broader research partners from across the Turing and the wider Turing community
• Publish and disseminate high-quality research papers and publications detailing research output and project case-studies.
• Become part of the broader partnership team and be expected to engage on a regular basis with the partner.

REQUIREMENTS

• Research Associate level: PhD in Mathematics, Computer Science or a closely related discipline.
• Research Assistant level: Near completion of a PhD or equivalent level of professional qualification in Mathematics, Computer Science or closely related discipline.
• A solid background in one or more of the following: Reinforcement Learning, Distributionally Robust Optimisation, Computational Optimal Transport, Bayesian Neural Networks, Formal Verification
• Sufficient specialist knowledge of adversarial robustness, certification or formal verification
• Experience in design, development and implementation of research software tools and libraries, such as Python, Java, GPU programming (Tensorflow, PyTorch, etc), symbolic verification (SAT, SMT)
• Track record of the ability to initiate, develop and deliver high quality research aligned with the research strategy indicated by the PI and any industrial stakeholders and to publish in peer reviewed journals and conferences.
• Hands-on experience with Machine Learning methods
• Track record of outstanding research and in delivering impact appropriate to career stage
• Experience in publishing research papers, code libraries or technical reports and giving presentations or classes on technical subjects.

Please see the job description for a full breakdown of the duties, responsibilities and person specification.

Other information

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full-time post is offered on a 3-year fixed-term basis (potential extension for a further 1-year term subject to a review at the end of year 3). The annual salary is £38,000-£44,000 (depending on experience) 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 at a salary of £36,236 per annum

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter.

From 01 March 2022 we will trial a Hybrid Working Model for an initial six-month trial period. During this period, staff will be expected to work at our British Library office for a number of days per month, dependent on the requirements of the role. As a guide, we anticipate this will be between 2-4 days per month, but the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

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 and covering letter. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact us on 020 3970 2148 or 0203 862 3340, or email recruitment@turing.ac.uk.

If you are applying for more than one role at the Turing, please note that only one Cover Letter can be visible on your profile at one time. If you wish to apply for multiple roles and do not want to overwrite your existing Cover Letter, please apply for the role using the button below and forward your additional cover letter directly to recruitment@turing.ac.uk quoting the job title.

Closing Date for Applications: Monday 8th August 2022, 23:59.

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 continuous eligibility 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