Research Associate (Reservoir Computing)

Department

The School of Physics, Engineering and Technology brings physicists and engineers together to push the frontiers of knowledge, foster innovation and meet the grand challenges facing society. Our aim is to deliver world-leading research in both fundamental and applied areas whilst developing new technologies that work for the public good, in an environment where everyone can thrive.

As a School, equality, diversity, and inclusion are central to our culture and we strive to provide a working environment which allows all staff and students to contribute fully, to flourish, and to excel. We aim to ensure that there is a supportive and egalitarian culture at all levels and across all staff groups and offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds. We are proud to hold Juno Champion and Athena Swan silver awards, which recognise our commitment to creating an equitable and fully inclusive environment in which staff and students can thrive. We aim to inspire young people to engage with science and engineering through our outreach work. 

This project will bring together ecologists, micro-sensor engineers, and computer scientists to develop a new generation of miniaturised sensing and computing technologies capable of operating on-board seabirds in challenging marine environments. A key goal is to develop high-performance micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and associated mobile hardware platforms, enabling environmental signals to be collected and processed directly within. 

Role

We are seeking an outstanding Postdoctoral Research Associate in Reservoir Computing and In-Sensor Computing with strong analytical and problem-solving skills and an interest in interdisciplinary research. The successful candidate will join a highly collaborative team spanning electronics, computer science, sensor engineering, and animal behavioural ecology, contributing to research that advances both our understanding of seabird navigation and the development of energy-efficient navigation methods for autonomous systems. The successful candidate will contribute to the development of reservoir computing architectures for embedded and in-sensor processing, working closely with collaborators designing next-generation MEMS sensors. 

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

You will have:

• a strong track record of research and development in Artificial Neural Networks or Reservoir Computing (including training), digital systems engineering (including simulation - HDL, MATLAB and SoC/FPGA), as well as electronic systems development, including specification, design, programming (C or equivalent) and testing.
• The candidate should also have strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• We are especially keen to appoint candidates who are able to work across disciplines and are keen to develop their interdisciplinary research skills during the project duration.

For informal enquiries: please contact Prof. Martin Trefzer (martin.trefzer@york.ac.uk) for more details on the role, Dr. Chun Zhao (chun.zhao@york.ac.uk) and pet-hr@york.ac.uk for more details on the project.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum (essential) criteria for each position will be offered an interview. Read more about the University of York’s commitments under the Disability Confident scheme.

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