Postdoctoral Research Fellow (109571-0824)

For informal enquiries, please contact Cagatay Turkay (Professor (CIM) and Project PI) at Cagatay.turkay@warwick.ac.uk.

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to an innovative, impactful project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The post is within an exciting new collaborative project that aims to perform research that informs strategic decision-making around plans for the elimination of sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis, HAT). The research will both be at the forefront of cutting-edge technological development and will also deliver real-world impact with its emphasis to better facilitate and broaden the use of statistical models through the use of AI and interaction. 

We are looking to appoint a postdoctoral researcher in Human-Centred AI. The post holder will play a crucial role in designing and developing AI-assisted, interactive and visual decision support tools that will enable key stakeholders from the national disease control programmes to make better and long-lasting use of the disease models developed by the group.. The post holder is expected to engage closely with the modelling researchers and key stakeholders to understand the needs, capabilities and aspirations, and respond to these by leading the development of AI-supported, interactive and visual methods and tools.

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

If you are near submission or have recently submitted your PhD but have not yet had it conferred, any offers of employment will be made as Research Assistant at the top of level 5 of the University grade structure. Upon receipt of evidence of the successful award of your PhD, you will be promoted to Research Fellow on the first point of level 6 of the University grade structure. 

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) aims to foster innovative and experimental forms of knowledge production through a sustained focus on methodology. CIM is dedicated to expanding the role of interdisciplinary methods through new lines of inquiry that cut across disciplinary boundaries, both intellectually and institutionally.

Project Details:

Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (gHAT, African sleeping sickness) is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and one of the few targeted for elimination of transmission (EoT) under the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) 2030 roadmap. Whilst global trends have seen substantial reductions in reported case incidence in the past two decades and many countries have validated elimination as a public health problem (<1 case per 10,000 population averaged over five years at a health district level), recent global cases (2020–2022) have not continued to fall at the same rate. It is well recognised that progressing from very low to zero cases is especially challenging, with a large proportion of current case burden in regions with poor infrastructure and health care systems and/or ongoing conflict. Modelling work to date is optimistic that the current gHAT toolkit could successfully interrupt transmission if included as part of appropriate interventions. This is, however, contingent on the successful operationalisation and application of appropriate tools.

This proposal extends previous modelling and health economic work of the HAT Modelling and Economic Predictions for Policy (HAT MEPP) 1 and 2 projects to now incorporate other endemic regions, in addition to providing continued support for the original five countries as their strategies evolve and the question of durable elimination becomes increasingly important. Vital to this work is close collaboration with national programmes and communication of the modelling results by the HAT MEPP team. To support this, the HAT MEPP graphical user interface (GUI) will continue to be refined and improved based on updated data, analysis and user feedback in order to provide granular information to support on-the-ground implementation.

The postholder will work primarily on designing and developing a next-generation, data and model intensive decision support tool that combines innovative data visualisation methods, large language models and automated model fitting techniques within a multi-modal, interactive infrastructure. The research is at the intersection of AI, human-computer interaction and design and is aiming to contribute to these areas through methodological and technological innovations as well as having real-world impact in supporting the elimination of a neglected tropical disease.

For more information, please see here. 

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 24 September 2024 at 11.55pm

To apply, please click ‘Apply’ below and submit an application form by the closing date. Please plan for any potential delays as you will not be able to submit an application past this deadline (even if you opened the form at, say, 11.30pm).

Please attach a CV and cover letter.

• Your CV should include your most recent employment experience, any other relevant experience, and education history.
• Your cover letter must detail how you meet each of the essential criteria found in the Job Description document below (desirable criteria too, where possible).

Please see here for guidance on writing a cover letter. We highly recommend using individual criteria as headers and giving examples below, though you are free to format the letter as you wish.

To streamline our hiring processes, we can only accept applications via our official website, warwick-careers.tal.net.

Interview Date: W/C 07 October 2024 

Start Date: As soon as possible. 

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.