Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Multi-Agent AI (Social Mechanisms and Allocations)

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Full-Time, Fixed-Term (until 31 August 2028)

The Department of Computer Science is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Leverhulme-funded project “Social Mechanisms and Allocations”, as part of an interdisciplinary research effort at Royal Holloway, University of London. The postholder will help lead work to design and build artificial agents that reproduce human behaviour observed in laboratory studies.

You will work closely with Professor Kostas Stathis (Department of Computer Science, Co-Investigator) and Professor David Levine (Leverhulme Fellow and Principal Investigator, Department of Economics), in collaboration with Professor Ryan McKay (Co-Investigator, Department of Psychology).

You will hold a PhD in Computer Science and AI (completed or near completion) and demonstrate comprehensive subject knowledge in AI, supported by a publication record in high-quality peer-reviewed venues. You will bring experience designing, formulating, and implementing AI agents for a specific domain (online and/or in-lab), ideally complemented by research experience in industry and familiarity with experimental data from economics and psychology.

You will be confident developing multi-agent applications using agent platforms and working across key AI/ML tools and languages, including Python, Java, Prolog and JavaScript. You will have a proven ability to analyse research problems, write up results clearly, and manage associated administrative duties effectively. Your expertise will include computational modelling of agent behaviour, practical development of agent models using symbolic and sub-symbolic techniques and building agent environments in AI programming languages. You will also have hands-on experience in programming and analysing EWA and self-tuning EWA agents, as well as deploying LLMs in multi-agent settings. Excellent communication and presentation skills are essential, with the ability to convey complex technical work clearly to academic and external audiences.

The post is based in Egham, Surrey, where the University is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London. Meetings with the team will take place at Royal Holloway. It is expected that the successful candidate will work at least part of the time on campus. There might be the possibility to use facilities in Central London based on project requirements.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Professor Kostas Stathis on kostas.stathis@rhul.ac.uk

Please quote the reference: 0126-019

Closing Date: 23:59, 28 January 2026

Interview Date: To be confirmed

The university has adopted hybrid working for some roles therefore some remote working may be possible for this role.

Royal Holloway is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and encourages applications from all people regardless of age, disability, gender, marital status, parental status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or trans status or history. More information on our structures and initiatives around EDI, including information on staff diversity networks, can be found on our Equality and Diversity Intranet page.

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