Research Assistant or Associate to develop Conversational Agents for Human-Robot Interaction

The Biomechatronics Laboratory at Imperial College London (https://www.biomechatronicslab.co.uk) is looking to appoint a researcher to support the development of social robotics, natural language processing (NLP), wearable systems, and machine learning technologies in the context of dementia research and healthcare applications.

You will combine machine learning, mechatronic fabrication, artificial intelligence (AI), and signal processing to develop technologies that support independence, safety, wellbeing, and psychosocial engagement for people living with dementia. Your research will include the collection and analysis of behavioural, movement, and wellbeing data to inform innovative preventative care interventions.

We are looking for a researcher with a track record in Data Science, Mechatronics, Clinical Data Collection, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). This represents a unique opportunity for a researcher with experience in human-robot interaction, neural recording, stimulation, signal processing, natural language processing, and wearable systems.

• You will plan and carry out research in accordance with the project: Robotics to Enhance Independence and Safety as a part of the Dementia Research Institute Care Research and Technology Centre (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/uk-dri-care-research-technology/).
• You will collaborate with psychiatrists, neurologists and engineers to develop robot behaviour, conducting human-robot interface experiments to map voice activity in response to robotic engagement.
• You will develop a conversational agent to encourage psychosocial interactions with dementia patients.
• You should have a PhD (or close to completing), in Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience.
• Practical experience in a signal processing, programming, and/or neurorobotics is essential.
• You should have experience in testing and deployment of social robots and/or intelligent voice agents.
• You must hold knowledge of neurorobotics and voice agents.
• Knowledge in app development and computer programming such as Python and C, C++ is desirable.

This position is fixed term and is expected to run for up to 20 months (in the first instance).

If you require any further details on the role please contact: Prof Ravi Vaidyanathan- r.vaidyanathan@imperial.ac.uk.

Hybrid working may be considered for this role. Staff working in roles that are suitable for hybrid working will normally be expected to work 60% of their time onsite. The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

Interested applicants may wish to review the below publications, which go into greater detail about the work that we do:

• Promoting Cognitive Health in Elder Care with Large Language Model-Powered Socially Assistive Robots
• Evaluating Spoken Language as a Biomarker for Automated Screening of Cognitive Impairment
• Telemetry Degradation and Sequential Stability in LLM-Integrated IoT Decision Systems