Research Assistant in Robotic Integration

The Role and Department

The BioDiMoBot project will deliver a system for autonomous, long-term robotic assessments of aquatic biodiversity and ecology. This project will develop an innovative measurement system to monitor biodiversity and provide insight into the drivers of ecosystem degradation. Additionally, it will assess organismic and environmental stress levels by using novel biohybrid sensors. With the BioDiMoBots' ability to perform autonomous and automated multimodal long-term data collection, the project will create a user-friendly robotic tool that provides detailed insights into the ecological health of aquatic environments. The project will be driven by the needs of potential stakeholders such as researchers, small and medium-sized enterprises in water-related industries and policy-makers. Field operations will dem onstrate the transformative power of the BioDiMoBot systems by monitoring aquatic ecosystems over a long period of time.

This position will ideally suit applicants with an interest in the real-world deployment of robots and the execution of long-term experimental scenarios and demonstrations. The successful applicant will coordinate the integration of robots into real-world scenarios, as well as the implementation and testing of robotic systems and their associated frameworks. Therefore, this role requires a person with a strong engineering background in industry, particularly in underwater monitoring. Applicants must be willing to engage in experimental work in the field, which is typically conducted in lakes in remote areas of the UK and EU.

The project is a HORIZON funded collaboration between the University of Durham in the UK, the University of Graz in Austria, Universite Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy, SYRION in Austria, Oesterreichische Bundesforste in Austria and Carbon Kapture (Mulroy Bay) Ltd in the UK. This role will involve close collaboration with these external partners. You will be expected to frequently visit several of these institutions in the course of your work and will be based in the Department of Computer Science at Durham University.

This post is fixed term for 24 months.

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.

Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 1 May 2025.

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.

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