Research Assistant in AI

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Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 25 September 2026

We are excited to launch this new opportunity for a two part-time Research Assistant in AI for Financial Forecasting, Data Modeling, and Multi-Agent Systems to join us in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University.

You will join a collaborative research community based in Newcastle and work with Dr Ekin Can Erkus and Professor Rishad Shafik within the School of Engineering. The role is part of the wider SONNETS network, which brings together Newcastle University, the University of Southampton, and Imperial College London.

Funded through an EPSRC Programme Grant, SONNETS develops computer modeling and artificial intelligence methods for national-level financial risk analysis, including work toward a digital twin of the UK's financial system. Your research will contribute practical methods and evidence to this cross-institutional programme and its wider impact on financial risk analysis.

The role will focus on practical AI research for financial forecasting, data modeling, and multi-agent or agentic systems. Working with Dr Ekin Can Erkus, Professor Rishad Shafik, and the wider SONNETS project, you will prepare tabular and time series datasets, implement Python-based forecasting and regression experiments, test AI-assisted workflow components, and prepare technical outputs for project meetings, reports, and academic papers.

We are particularly keen to hear from candidates with a strong interest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, financial forecasting, reproducible programming, and collaboration across a diverse network of specialists. Strong Python skills are required. Experience with SQL, data pipelines, scikit-learn, Num Py, pandas, R, Git/Git Hub, Jupyter notebooks, Power BI or equivalent visual analytics tools, cloud or API-based AI tools, LLM workflows, agent orchestration, retrieval-augmented generation, or automated machine learning pipelines is relevant to the role;

applicants are not expected to have experience in all of these areas.

Appointment will be at Research Assistant level, Grade F, depending on qualifications and experience against the University role profile. This is a part-time post for 20 hours per week, fixed term for 6 months.

We follow the Researcher Development Concordat and enable all colleagues to fulfil their research potential regardless of career stage. This commitment secures our thriving research culture and vibrant research environment. Our offer to each individual and their researcher development includes mentoring, annual research planning discussions, pooled research funding to support career development and research activities, and peer review support for the development of research and innovation funding applications.

You will report to Professor Rishad Shafik and work with Dr Ekin Can Erkus. We want you to feel confident when applying for a position with Newcastle University.

If you would like an informal discussion to clarify any points, please contact Dr Ekin Can Erkus at  and Professor Rishad Shafik at r .

We are committed to making the process accessible to everyone and can provide additional support or adjustments to meet individual needs.

Interviews will be held shortly after the closing date.

• Collect, clean, curate, and analyse financial time series, economic indicators, operational datasets, transactional datasets, synthetic data, and scenario-driven data streams relevant to financial risk analysis
• Develop an agentic workflow for financial forecasting, model development, experiment management, and research automation
• Collect, analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes
• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, use problem solving to affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s)
• Present information on research progress and outcomes to a Principal Investigator or groups overseeing the research project
• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into the research project’s dissemination, in whatever form (report, papers, chapters, books)
• Use research resources (including, where required, laboratories, workshops and…