Research Assistant

NCS035R

College / University Administration: College of Physical Sciences

Discipline / Area: Computing Science

Position Type: Full-time

University Grade Structure: Grade 5

Salary From: £25,504

Salary To: £28,685

Job Summary: The Trusted Tiny Things (T3) project aims to investigate some of the challenges inherent in making the Internet of Things (IoT) more transparent and trustworthy to users. Things, in this sense, could range from passive radio tags to internet connected sensor platforms and embedded computers, all having identities, physical attributes and capabilities, and being seamlessly integrated into the existing Internet infrastructure. The project will create a lightweight model and software to represent and store information about devices in the IoT such as: capabilities, security properties, ownership, etc.  The project will also develop a set of guidelines to support IoT developers to describe information about devices according to our model. We will evaluate the approach using two transport related scenarios.

This project is funded by the IT as a Utility Network+ (ITaaU) which is working towards the provision of information and technology in a transparent and highly usable manner. This project is associated with the dot.rural RCUK Digital Economy Hub. Digital Economy is an RCUK cross-council programme, aimed at realising the transformational impact of ICT for all aspects of business, society and economy. For further details, see: www.itutility.ac.uk/ and www.dotrural.ac.uk.

The Trusted Tiny Things project is now looking to appoint a research assistant to provide programming and research support. We expect this post to commence on the 1st of July 2013 or earlier.

You should have a good Honours degree in Computer Science or a related discipline; an MSc with a relevant specialism would also be desirable. You are expected to be a highly competent programmer in Java and to have good knowledge of at least one of the following areas: ontologies, automated reasoning, linked data, provenance and embedded programming in C. You should also have some significant practical experience in at least one of these areas and also some background in creating/maintaining websites. Enthusiasm for digital technology and innovation relevant to society and the economy is essential as is the ability to work as part of a cross-disciplinary team.

As this post is externally funded it is available for a period of 1 year. Salary will be at the appropriate point on the Grade 5 scale (£25,504 - £28,685 per annum) with placement according to qualifications and experience.

Should you require a visa to undertake paid employment in the UK you will be required to fulfil the minimum points criteria to be granted a Certificate of Sponsorship and Tier 2 visa.  As appropriate, at the time an offer of appointment is made you will be asked to demonstrate that you fulfil the criteria in respect of financial maintenance and competency in English. Please do not hesitate to contact Melanie Noble, HR Adviser (melanie.noble@abdn.ac.uk), for further information on this.

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made to Dr Edoardo Pignotti (Tel: 01224 274092, e-mail: e.pignotti@abdn.ac.uk).

Online application forms and further information is available at www.abdn.ac.uk/jobs.

Please quote reference NCS035R on all correspondence.

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 6 May 2013.

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Further information is available online at: http://tinyurl.com/dyowld7

To apply click on the ‘Apply’ button below.