Research Associate in AI & Wireless Communications

Role Title

Research Associate in AI & Wireless Communications

Grade 7, £37,694 - £47,389 per annum

Full‑time (35hrs per week), Fixed‑term (6 months)

33 days annual leave, plus 9 banks closed days for all full‑time staff. Use our total rewards calculator:  to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot‑Watt University.

The School of Engineering & Physical Sciences has an international research reputation and close connection with the professional and industrial world of science, engineering and technology. Our research ranges from fundamental sciences through to engineering applications, all of which are supported by strong external funding. We have around 150 full‑time academic staff who drive this research activity and are based in 5 research institutes: the Institute of Chemical Sciences, the Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences, the Institute of Mechanical, Process & Energy Engineering, the Institute of Sensors, Signals & Systems and the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Bio Physics & Bio Engineering.

REF
2014 named Heriot‑Watt in the top 25% of UK universities, with 82% of our research ranked as world‑leading or internationally excellent. Heriot‑Watt ranked 9th university in the UK and 1st in Scotland for research impact.

We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated PDRA willing to work as part of a team in this project to support the development of AT‑native 6G wireless communications and robotic networking for healthcare. Applicants must have a PhD degree (or have submitted a PhD thesis) in Electrical, Electronic, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or a related discipline, have excellent knowledge and strong background in Signal Processing for wireless communications/networks (in particular physical/cross‑layer technologies), MIMO signal processing, interference management, machine learning, beamforming, precoding, channel estimation, IoT, user interface technologies, mathematics and optimisation evidenced by high‑quality research publications.

Applicants must also have excellent written, oral presentation, and interpersonal skills, and software programming skills (Matlab and/or C/C++/JAVA/Python) appropriate for wireless communications simulation and testbed (USRP) work. It is desirable that the applicants have some industrial experience working in telecommunications, machine learning, networks, programming or testbed. The project provides an excellent opportunity for career development and to make an important contribution to a very challenging field in wireless communications and will offer an opportunity to work with world‑leading researchers.

Possible placement opportunities with Nokia Bell Labs will be available through this post.

The successful candidate will join the digital signal processing for intelligent systems and communications (SPCOM), Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems (ISSS), supervised by Prof Mathini Sellathurai. For further enquiries please contact Prof Mathini Sellathurai ().

• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research with the assistance of a mentor, if required. Conduct individual and collaborative research projects, making use of relevant research techniques and methods. Disseminate results of research in peer‑reviewed journals and conferences, and/or other appropriate media. Continue to update personal knowledge and to develop skills within own specialist research area. Maintain written records of research results and progress, generate intellectual property and data analysis, and contribute to the production of research reports and publications.
• Write research reports and publications. Analyse and interpret the results of own research and generate original ideas based on outcomes. Prepare proposals and applications to external bodies, for funding purposes. Use initiative and creativity to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.
• Build internal contacts and participate in internal networks for the exchange of information and to form relationships for future…