Research Fellow in AI Neonatal Retinal Imaging

r B02-11293 Professional Expertise Research and Research Support Department School of Life & Medical Sciences (B02) Location London Working Pattern Full time Salary See advert text Contract Type Fixed-term Working Type Hybrid Available for Secondment No Closing Date 21-Oct-2026

A Research Fellow post is available to work with Senior Research Fellow Dr Siegfried Wagner at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, ranked the best place in the world to study ophthalmology (CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017). UCL Institute of Ophthalmology conducts cutting-edge research, attracting principal investigators, post-doctoral fellows and MD/PhD students of the highest international calibre to a stimulating research environment.

Full time on site position offers great opportunities for career growth. This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated researcher with a background in machine learning, computer science or a related quantitative discipline to engage in high-impact, translational research in medical AI. The post holder will play a central role in building the world's largest, most diverse neonatal retinal imaging dataset and in developing a self-supervised foundation model for neonatal retinal images.

The role combines large-scale data curation and annotation with methodological development in foundation models, applied to a globally important, underserved area of paediatric ophthalmology: retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and associated systemic disease in preterm infants. The post is funded from the 1 December 2026 until 30 November 2028 in the first instance. Salary will be on Grade 7, Point 32 (£46,261 per annum, inclusive of London Allowance.).

Appointment as a Research Fellow at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD. If this is not the case, an initial appointment will be made as a Research Assistant at Grade 6b with payment at Grade 7 backdated upon award of a PhD to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis (with corrections.)

The successful candidate will hold an PhD in a relevant topic, such as computer science. They will have demonstrable experience in AI for healthcare or medical imaging; the development, training and fine-tuning of deep learning models; working with large-scale imaging or medical datasets; and a strong publication record in relevant journals. Knowledge of software engineering standards such as Python, and experience with neonatal/paediatric retinal imaging and disease will be advantageous.

The applicant should also have excellent communication skills and a commitment to conducting high-quality research that will benefit healthcare.

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer a generous pension scheme and holiday allowance (27 days), bank holidays (8 days), plus closure (6 days) and more. Visit  to find out more.

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.