Postdoctoral Research Associate

Full time: 35 hours per week

Fixed term: 36 months (with possible extension to 48 months)

We are looking for a talented and ambitious early career researcher to work on the project “Numerical Analysis for Stable AI” funded by a European Research Council Advanced Grant.

The Opportunity:

This postdoctoral position will be devoted to research on algorithms in Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the perspective of numerical analysis and computational mathematics. The overarching aim of the project is to develop new mathematical theory and algorithms to identify, quantify and, where possible, mitigate the empirically observed vulnerabilities in current AI systems. The project is led by Professor Des Higham in the School of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, and it will exploit links with EPCC (formerly the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre), the Generative AI Lab, and the Centre for Technomoral Futures.

The successful candidate will contribute to both theoretical analysis and computation experimentation (in Python, using GPUs), with the  precise balance determined by the candidate’s background and interests.  The mathematical tools involved will include matrix analysis, optimization, backward error analysis, condition number theory, high-dimensional analysis (concentration of measure) and stochastic computation.

A record of some high-quality mathematical reports and/or publications, as well as coding skills (e.g. in MATLAB, Python, C) are essential. You will also closely collaborate with a second postdoctoral researcher, who will be hired later in the year,  a cohort of PhD students, and a range of visiting experts. Communication skills are essential for this project, as the results will be developed in collaboration with AI developers, end-users,  and regulators, and with feedback from colleagues in ethics, law, social science and the creative arts. 

You will be part of Edinburgh’s world-leading Applied and Computational Mathematics Group, providing a friendly and vibrant research environment. You will also have access to a generous travel allowance which will enable you to present your work at national and international conferences. There is scope for a strong candidate to shape the research direction.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Research experience and some publications in at least one of numerical analysis/scientific computing and/or algorithms for AI
• Enthusiasm to investigate and quantify vulnerabilities in current AI systems 
• Excellent academic writing and communication skills
• Strong coding skills in at least one of MATLAB, Python, C, and experience with, or willingness to learn, Pytorch and GPUs

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