Research Associate on project “AI for Verification and Control”

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford is currently looking for an outstanding candidate to fill one RA (Postdoctoral) position available from end of Summer 2021 on a 1-year full-time contract, which is extendable, on a project led by Professor Alessandro Abate.

The scientific underpinnings of the project lie in the areas of Formal Verification and Control Theory, with additional core components from the area of AI and Machine Learning. The overall goal is to contribute to the development of general approaches to integrate learning components within architectures for the formal verification and control of complex engineering systems: we aim on the one hand to certify the correct behaviour of safety-critical components and systems adaptively to collected data, and on the other to provide formal guarantees (from verification and control theory) to learning components that are embedded in safety-critical systems. The project will have an additional emphasis on applications in safety critical domain, through the HICLASS project from Innovate UK which provides a closely-knit network of industrial and academic collaborators on the mentioned areas.

The project is embedded within the activities of the OXCAV research group at Oxford CS, which investigates the areas of Formal Verification and Control Theory, and has a wide-ranging interest on integrating techniques and tools from Machine Learning (for instance, Reinforcement Learning):

http://www.oxcav.org

OXCAV investigates applications in Safety-Critical Systems, such as the Energy infrastructure, Automotive, the Space domain, and beyond. The group is focussed both on theoretical developments, and on generation of usable software, towards technology transfer pursued alongside key industrial partners. Further information about Professor Abate’s research profile can be found at

here:  http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/alessandro.abate

We welcome applications from students with a DPhil/PhD (or close to completion status) in Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical degrees. Strong maths foundations are required, plus willingness to develop code and to engage in collaborative projects. Candidates must also have excellent writing, communication and presentation skills.

For further information about the project or for informal discussions about suitability, please contact Professor Abate (Alessandro.Abate@cs.ox.ac.uk). 

We are a Stonewall Top 100 Employer, Living Wage and Mindful Employer, holding an Athena Swan Bronze Award, HR excellence in Research and Race Equality Charter Bronze Award.

We would particularly welcome applications from women and black and minority ethnic  applicants  who are currently under-represented within the Computer Science Department.

The closing date for applications is 12 noon on 5^th July 2021.

Our staff and students come from all over the world and we proudly promote a friendly and inclusive culture. Diversity is positively encouraged, through diversity groups and champions, for example http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/aboutus/women-cs-oxford/index.html, as well as a number of family-friendly policies, such as the right to apply for flexible working and support for staff returning from periods of extended absence, for example maternity leave.

For further details and to apply please visit: https://my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form?p_company=10&p_internal_external=E&p_display_in_irish=N&p_process_type=&p_applicant_no=&p_form_profile_detail=&p_display_apply_ind=Y&p_refresh_search=Y&p_recruitment_id=151477