Research Fellow (107742-0324)

For informal queries, please email Professor Gareth Roberts at gareth.o.roberts@warwick.ac.uk.

We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join the OCEAN project (On intelligenCE And Networks: Mathematical and Algorithmic Foundations for Multi-Agent Decision-Making), https://oceanerc.com.

This timely project will develop statistical and algorithmic foundations for systems involving multiple incentive-driven learning and decision-making agents, including uncertainty quantification at the agent’s level.

The project will bring together ideas from Statistics, Probability, Machine Learning, Statistics and Game Theory and is an ambitious 10M Euro project funded by ERC (UK component from the UKRI funding guarantee), and led by 4PIs: Gareth Roberts (Warwick), Eric Moulines (Ecole Polytechnique), Christian Robert (Dauphine) and Michael Jordan (Berkeley).

For further information regarding the skills required for this role please see the personal specification section of the attached job description.

We are seeking to recruit a Research Fellow to join the team of investigators led by Gareth Roberts.

The successful applicant will be based at Warwick but expected to work alongside other researchers from Roberts’s team (including Adam Johansen at Warwick, Murray Pollock and Hongsheng Dai at Newcastle University, and Louis Aslett at Durham University), as well as researchers from the teams in Paris and Berkeley. They will participate in the many collaborative activities of OCEAN, while also enjoying the vibrant research environment of the Warwick Computational Statistics group.

We encourage applications in all areas of the theory, methodology and applications of Computational Statistics or Machine Learning. Previous knowledge of statistical privacy, distributed inference, and/or game theory would be useful, but are not expected.

You should have, or be close to completing, a PhD in Statistics, Probability, Machine Learning or a related discipline.

You will work directly with the investigators to undertake and support research necessary to achieve the aims within this grant. This will include, for example, publishing in leading methodological/application journals, presentation of research at workshops and conferences, developing code implementing new statistical methods, and active involvement in project meetings.

You will be experienced in one or more of the following areas: Statistics, Computational Statistics, Theory and methodology of Stochastic Algorithms, High-Performance Computing, and Machine Learning. You will have demonstrated the ability to develop new statistical or machine learning methodology.

We are particularly keen to encourage applicants with strong computational skills, as part of a team of researchers with skills that cover theoretical, methodological, and applied statistics. A demonstrable ability to produce academic writing of the highest publishable quality is essential.

If you have not yet been awarded your PhD but are near submission or have recently submitted your PhD, any offers of employment will be made as Research Assistant on level 5 of the University grade structure (£32,982 p.a.). Upon successful award of your PhD and evidence of this fact, you will be promoted to Research Fellow on the first point of level 6 of the University grade structure (£33,966 p.a.).

The Department’s research spans a broad range of areas in statistics, data science, theoretical and applied probability, finance and interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Major strategic initiatives include CRiSM, the Applied Statistics & Risk Unit (AS&RU), which promotes and coordinates external partnerships, and the national Academy for PhD Training in Statistics (APTS). 

The Department has close relations with the co-located Mathematics Institute and Department of Computer Science and with other departments such as Economics and the Warwick Business School and is strongly engaged with the Alan Turing Institute in London. The newly established Warwick Centre for the Applications of the Mathematical and Computing Sciences (CAMaCS) is a joint initiative with Mathematics and Computer Science designed to link Warwick’s world-leading research in the departments with external partners and bring benefits to society through impact.

The Department of Statistics is committed to promoting equality and diversity, holding an Athena SWAN Silver award which demonstrates this commitment. We welcome applicants from all sections of the community and will give due consideration to applicants seeking flexible working patterns, and to those who have taken a career break.

Further information about working at the University of Warwick, including information about childcare provision, career development and relocation is at https://warwick.ac.uk/services/humanresources/workinghere/.

Born in the 60s with a mindset of boldness, imagination and collaboration, the University of Warwick is a world-leading research-intensive university with the highest academic and research standards. We’re one of the world’s top universities, ranked 67th in the world and 10th in the UK*, with 92% of our research assessed to be ‘world leading or internationally excellent’**. 

You'll be joining a diverse, innovative and globally connected community committed to igniting real world progress. Here at Warwick, we offer you opportunities to follow your ambitions as long as you bring the energy and determination to succeed.

*QS World University Rankings 2024

** Research Excellence Framework 2021

To find out more about us visit our website.

CLOSING DATE: Tuesday 23 April 2024 at 23.55

To apply please complete your essential personal details and attach a CV and cover letter by the closing date.

Please ensure your CV includes your most recent employment experience along with any additional relevant experience and education history.

Your cover letter should detail how you meet each of the essential and desirable criteria for this post.

To streamline our hiring process, we kindly request that all candidates submit their applications through our official website. This ensures that all applications are received in a uniform format and can be processed efficiently by our HR team.

The interviews will be held on: TBC

We will provide you with a great range of benefits, which include an attractive pension scheme, 30 days holiday plus Christmas closure, excellent learning and development opportunities, and savings on a wide range of products and services. We offer a generous maternity/paternity/adoption/parental leave policy, and onsite childcare facilities. 

We recognise the importance of a healthy work/life balance and offer you access to flexible working, for more information click here. 

We are proud to say that we are a Living Wage employer.

If you are considering relocating to the UK, read our Relocation Guide to find out more about what Warwick has to offer and what might be involved in the process.

Warwick is committed to building an organisation of mutual respect and dignity, promoting a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive working and learning environment.  We recognise that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways, and that those differences are to be recognised, respected, and valued.  Where possible, we go beyond legislation to provide a place where everyone can thrive, supporting all staff to achieve their full potential. We aspire to remove economic, social, and cultural barriers that may otherwise prevent people from succeeding. 

We therefore welcome and encourage applications from all communities regardless of culture, background, age, disability, sex/gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion/belief, or sexual or romantic orientation. To find out more about our social inclusion work at Warwick visit our webpages here. 

The University currently holds a Race Equality Charter Bronze Award, Athena Swan Sliver Award and a Disability Smart Bronze Award. The University of Warwick is also one of the six founder institutions of the EUTOPIA European University Alliance. 

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)

The University of Warwick complies with the DBS Code of Practice and undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against anyone who makes a Disclosure relating to a conviction or other information revealed.  More information is available on the University’s Vacancy pages and applicants may request a copy of the DBS Code of Practice.