Research Assistants

The Cyber Security and Systems Engineering group at Edinburgh Napier University delivers world-class research and enterprise in the areas of artificial intelligence, data science and visualisation, games development and software engineering.

We are the top Scottish modern university for both research power and research impact and based on the Times Higher Education Ranking 2023, computer science at Edinburgh Napier is ranked third among computer science departments in Scotland, and in the top 400 in the world.

Currently, we are recruiting for two part-time Research Assistants, with expertise in Software Development, to join our brand-new project aimed at designing an Interoperable Interface for a Digital Twin as a Service (DTaaS) Platform.

The Role:

The main duties will differ slightly for each Research Assistant, however either position will give you the opportunity to use your skills and experience in Computer Science/Computer Engineering to develop the interface for A Digital Twin (DT), that can monitor the digital environment, perform analysis, and apply optimisation in real time.

One post will focus on Interface Design and you will be in a strong position to use your knowledge of programming in Python and Go to work on the platform's back end, designing the data abstraction layer using an object relational mapper and develop the application layer interfaces (APIs) using open-source codebases.

The second post will focus on Data Integration and Visualisations and should your expertise lie in the use of Python and Java, then you will be well suited to work on the platform’s front-end, designing data schemas and their versioning, implementing the graph ontologies and connecting various data sources (public APIs, databases, IoT devices) while operating with different data formats (JSON, XML, Protobuf).

With both positions, there are opportunities to research the use of AI/machine learning to compliment the application, either for the scalability of the DT interfaces in microservice-based architecture or for integration into the data management.

Furthermore, this is an excellent opportunity for you to capitalise on your expertise in software development and interest in related research. Should you be studying towards a PhD, the part time post hours will leave room for your own research, which this post could potentially compliment as a practical exercise.

What we will need from you:

• Undergraduate or Masters Degree in Computer Science/Computer Engineering
• Strong background in Computer Science/Computer Engineering
• Experience of programming in Python, coupled with either Go or JavaScript
• Understanding of AI/ML algorithms
• Knowledge of Computer Communications and Networking and TCP/IP Protocol Stacks
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on practical implementation
• Ability to work collaboratively in a research environment.

For a full role description, please click here.

Benefits we offer:

41 days annual leave, pension scheme (17.6%), hybrid/flexible working and professional development opportunities. Further information regarding our benefits here.

Contract: Fixed-Term – 12 months

Hours: Part Time – 15 hours per week

Additional information:

Closing date: 8^th December 2024

Interviews: Week commencing 16^th December 2024

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers for this role. International applicants will only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

The University holds Disability Confident, Carer Positive and Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champion status. More details can be found here.

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