Research Assistant / Associate TORUS 2025

Are you passionate about using your skills to enhance people's lives? We are looking for an enthusiastic Research Assistant/Associate to conduct applied data science and AI research as part of the TORUS project.

The Team

TORUS is a collaborative project between the universities of Bristol and Newcastle, dedicated to transforming the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease. For decades, the quest for a cure has been hindered by the challenge of accurately measuring the impact of new drugs on patients' symptoms and daily lives. TORUS aims to overcome this barrier by developing an innovative platform of sensing technologies for use in patients' homes, combined with an advanced data fusion and machine learning pipeline. This approach will measure changes in specific mobility-related behaviours over weeks and months, providing critical insights to drive effective treatments.

The Role

Your role will focus on exploiting distributed machine learning. You will play a major role in a work package that is leading on designing, building, and deploying the integrated TORUS system. This must be a secure, privacy-preserving, and resilient system; distributed machine learning will be key to achieving this. Your responsibilities will also include supporting and evaluating pilot trials conducted in patients' homes. You should be an effective communicator capable of interacting with diverse audiences, including academics, industry leaders, and research subjects in their homes.

Join our team at Newcastle University's Urban Sciences Building (USB), a cutting-edge facility that serves as a living laboratory for pioneering research in urban sustainability, energy efficiency, and digital innovation. The USB is equipped with smart infrastructure, advanced laboratories, and integrated sensor networks that provide real-time data to support groundbreaking projects. Our interdisciplinary environment fosters collaboration among researchers, students, and industry partners, promoting innovative solutions to modern urban challenges.

This is a full-time, fixed-term position available immediately until 29th Feb 2028.

To apply, please upload a CV and letter of application which outlines how you can evidence the requirements in the job description.

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Paul Watson at Paul.Watson@newcastle.ac.uk.

Key Accountabilities

• Contributing to the design, development, and evaluation of the integrated TORUS system
• Prepare clear, well-written timely reports and draft scientific papers to meet the requirements of high-impact journals and conferences according to the project timeline set out by the Investigator’s team
• Present research findings at conferences or via publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
• Designing and running experiments and evaluating the results
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post, as requested by the project lead

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Strong programming skills
• Data Science and/or AI knowledge and experience
• Skilled in assimilating and deploying ideas found in relevant literature
• Ability to design and deliver oral presentations to a diversity of stakeholders
• High level of analytical and problem-solving capacity
• Experience of writing technical papers, and progress reports for conferences and/or journals. Preparing results for publication and dissemination via presentations, scientific papers, outreach activities and public/industrial engagement (Desirable for Research Assistant)
• Ability to engage research with the public in their homes, demonstrating compassion and professionalism while representing the University with the utmost trustworthiness

Desirable

• Experience of applying Machine Learning
• The ability to motivate, organise and show leadership in the management of other research staff within the research team

Attributes and Behaviour

• Excellent interpersonal skills with an aptitude for building and maintaining trust with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to communicate research findings and demonstrate research effectively to diverse audiences, tailoring the message appropriately for each group
• Build trust with the public and respect research boundaries when conducting studies in private settings such as patients' homes. Demonstrate the ability to listen to research subjects, consider their feedback, and respond thoughtfully
• Maintaining a high level of professional conduct and ethics in research
• Committed to embedding the values of equality and diversity in all aspects of your work
• Demonstrable commitment to our values of academic excellence, ambition, social responsibility, and accountability

Qualifications

• PhD awarded in a relevant area of expertise, or substantial equivalent work experience in a relevant discipline (Research Associate)
• An undergraduate and postgraduate degree in a relevant area of expertise, or substantial equivalent work experience in a relevant discipline (Research Assistant)

Desirable

• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.