Senior Research Fellow for Machine Learning and AI in Agriculture (Secondment)

The Alan Turing Institute

Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, sharp, and innovative people who want to use their skills to contribute to our mission to make great leaps in data science and AI research to change the world for the better.

Please find more information about us here

BACKGROUND

The Alan Turing Institute is expanding its research into the application of machine learning and AI to agricultural data, building on a previous two-year programme on the Impact of Climate Change on UK Agriculture. As part of this the Institute is aiming to strengthen its existing links to agricultural research institutions, such as Rothamsted Research, the John Innes Centre, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and to build links with new partners in this area. Among the priorities of this research programme are the development of digital twins for agriculture, large-scale models of crop-yield prediction, crop phenotyping approaches, sustainable agriculture, and livestock monitoring.

The Alan Turing Institute is recruiting a Senior Research Fellow who would be seconded from their home institution (part-time 0.5 FTE) in order to lead efforts in line with the priorities outlined above, to develop collaborations, and to develop funding bids to support large collaborative projects.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Bring development of funding bids for the application of machine learning and AI to agriculture, and digital twins for agriculture
• Act as principal investigator, should these bids be successful, and lead a team of Research Associates
• Build links between ATI, Rothamsted, and other agricultural research institutions
• Explore the potential of digital twins for agriculture
• Investigate integration of agricultural data across scales, from plants to drone and satellite data
• Build upon existing projects and large-scale datasets at ATI on crop yield prediction, soil type, land use, weather, and remote sensing, with potential applications of ML/AI
• Develop further opportunities for the application of ML/AI to large agricultural datasets
• Explore the potential of machine learning approaches for the development of sustainable agriculture

Person Specification

• PhD degree in Natural Science, Mathematics, Computer Science
• Programming experience including machine learning, AI, data science
• Experience processing and analysing large scientific datasets
• Research experience in the application of ML/AI to agricultural data

Please see our portal for a full breakdown of the Job Description.

Terms and Conditions

This part time 0.5 FTE post is offered on a fixed term basis until June 2025, at an annual salary of £66,150 - £71,663 pro rata  plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies,  https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. We expect staff to come to our office at least 4 days per month. Some roles may require more days in the office; the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

Application procedure

Please see our jobs portal for full details on how to apply and the interview process.

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to making sure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive.

This includes making reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or long-term condition. Please contact us at adjustments@turing.ac.uk  to find out how we can assist you.

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