PhD Openings

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Postdoc Openings

Please refer to the descriptions below for more details.

Research Assistant/Associate in Security of ML-based Personal Assistants

We are currently recruiting a Research Assistant/Associate in Security of ML-based Personal Assistants.

Further information on the job and an online application form can be found below.

  • Salary range: £40,694 to £53,630 per annum*
  • Closing date: 8 November 2023
  • Location: White City Campus - On site only

Job summary

The Department of Computing at Imperial College London is a leading department of computer science, with a strong international presence in verification and artificial intelligence.

We are seeking to hire 2 outstanding Research Assistant(s)/Associate(s) to join the Safe Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) group, led by Prof. Alessio Lomuscio. SAIL is a friendly, vibrant, multi-national team working on various aspects of safe Artificial Intelligence, including verification and robustification of machine learning systems and autonomous systems. The group also has strong links with the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence and US institutions.

Duties and responsibilities

The successful candidates will join the UKRI-funded project “Secure AI Assistants”, jointly run by King’s College London and Imperial College London. The overarching aim of the project is to develop various methods to assess the security of personal AI assistants, including identifying unwanted aspects of the system so that they can be rectified.

The role will focus on verification, robustification and adversarial attacks for AI assistants based on machine-learning, including transformer-based systems. Familiarity with existing methods for verification of neural networks, e.g., MILP-based methods, SAT-based methods, abstraction, and optimization is highly desirable, as well as methods for adversarial search and various forms of learning. Previous experience with neural networks used in NLP such as transformers or LSTM is advantageous but candidates demonstrating an ability and willingness to become familiar with these topics and able to contribute to them will also be considered.

Essential requirements

  • Hold (or shortly expect to receive) a PhD degree in Computer Science or a related field
  • Either a strong background in verification of neural networks, and adversarial search, or a strong background in machine learning with particular emphasis to robustness
  • A good publication record in relevant conferences or journals.
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as good social skills.
  • Ability to prioritise work to meet deadlines, and to work with minimal supervision.

*Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant within the salary range £40,694 to £43,888 per annum.

Further information

The post is offered on a full-time, fixed-term contract.

How to apply

For further details on this opportunity visit this link.

In addition to completing the online application candidate should attach:

  • A full CV
  • Up to 1 page statement explaining what interesting issues the candidate sees in the above post and the reasons why your expertise is relevant.

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis and reserve the right to close the advert early if the position is filled. It is advisable that you submit your application as early as possible.

For informal queries candidates are welcome to contact Professor Alessio Lomuscio: a.lomuscio@imperial.ac.uk.

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