Research Fellow in Conversational AI for Digital Health

Job Summary

We are seeking to employ a highly motivated Research Fellow in the field of conversational AI for cutting-edge research in digital healthcare technologies. This is a full-time, 3.5-year position as part of the EU-funded HORIZON project MAYA, involving an interdisciplinary consortium of 16 EU partners. You will commence your role in September 2025 and will be based at Robert Gordon University (School of Computing, Engineering, and Technology) in Aberdeen (Scotland, UK), where you will contribute to developing a digital health hub, that integrates smart mirrors with conversational AI to support adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors.

The MAYA project will develop conversational AI constructs by integrating large language models (LLMs), designing and implementing structures (such as transition trees or behaviour trees) for dialogue control, using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to manage specialised contexts, with an agentic framework to organise dialogue flow and precision. Case-based reasoning (CBR) will be used to adapt, reuse, and recommend proven interventions, ensuring personalisation. Collaborative efforts with interdisciplinary teams will ensure the successful integration of these components into the overall MAYA platform.

In this post, you will contribute to the development of the MAYA conversational interface for the digital health hub. Your primary responsibilities will include researching and developing the interactive natural language interface using LLMs, integrating RAG with knowledge from other AI agents (including a case-based intervention recommender), and developing the necessary dialogue control structures. You will also play a key role in designing the iCARE Ontology, using semantic and ontological reasoning methods to support the creation of a comprehensive suite of conversational tools. Additionally, you will ensure seamless integration with the smart mirror device, which will serve as the primary medium for end-user interaction.

You should hold a PhD (or recently submitted a PhD thesis for examination or be close to submission) in AI or related discipline that includes natural language processing, understanding and/or inference. Experience in deploying AI systems in real-world applications and writing and disseminating research through publications, conferences, and other academic platforms is also required.

This post is subject to a Disclosure Scotland check. For more information visit: www.mygov.scot/basic-disclosure

In keeping with RGU's commitment to work/life balance you will have the opportunity to work from home for a portion of the working week and also benefit from a generous pension scheme, 46 days annual leave (including statutory days) an onsite nursery and sports centre, as well as a range of voluntary health and travel benefits.

We are committed to attracting and engaging a diverse range of staff and fostering a culture where everyone feels welcome, comfortable to express their ideas, and can reach their full potential. For more information, please visit Our Diverse Workforce pages.

Employment is conditional on candidates, if deemed necessary, passing a pre-employment medical and undertaking ongoing health surveillance throughout the course of their employment. This is required in order to support our duty of care under health and safety statute and to ensure that the candidates are able to carry out the functions required by the role.