(Senior) Research Fellow in Developing AI Tools for Ophthalmology

About us

UCL’s Department of Computer Science (CS) is a top-ranked Computer Science Department in the UK. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) evaluation, UCL Computer Science was ranked second in the UK for research power and first in England.

Appointments will be within the newly created UCL Hawkes Institute and Department of Computer Science. The Hawkes Institute launched in March and combines the UCL Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC) and the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS). The specific location will be our office at 90 High Holborn, which collocates Hawkes (formerly CMIC), UCL’s AI Centre (AIC), and UCL’s Advanced Research Computing Centre (ARC) creating a vibrant hub of data-science researchers with interests from basic machine learning and AI technologies through to front-line applications in healthcare. The Hawkes Institute connects these activities to the wider range of biomedical and clinical activity across UCL.

About the role

"Oculomics” is a novel approach that uses AI to detect the hidden signatures of physical and mental health within the eye. It is a uniquely attractive approach for community screening and diagnosis, since an ‘eye check’ is the only health check that the majority of the population regularly attend. 

The aim is to use a major advance in AI - foundation models - to address shortcomings in the performance of current oculomics models, and to develop a framework that allows these models to be seamlessly adjusted to target specific diseases, in line with priorities of medically underserved communities (Zhou et al., Nature, 2023).

Research Fellow - Grade 7: £45,103 - £52,586

Senior Research Fellow - Grade 8: £54,931 - £69,903

Appointment at Grade 8 will be dependant on meeting the relevant essential criteria. Please see the person specification on the JD for what essential criteria are required to be appointed at Grade 8.

This role is an open-ended contract with a funding end date of 2 years after the start date, but not exceeding the project end date of 31st August 2028, in the first instance.

This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Research and Professional Services Staff. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/conditions-service-research-teaching-and-professional-services-staff for more information.

About you

The post requires an honours degree (minimum 2:1) and a PhD in a discipline related to the role. The candidate should have a track record in the theory, development, and application of machine learning/AI tools with relevance to this project. The candidate should also have strong problem-solving abilities, excellent communication skills, and a track record of high-quality research publications.

What we offer

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Our department holds an Athena SWAN Gold award, in recognition of our long-term commitment and 'beacon' status in advancing gender equality.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/

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