Jobs, fresher vacancy - Research Associate • UK

Company: University of Edinburgh

UK

DescriptionGrade UE07: £41,064- £48,822 per annumCollege of Science and Engineering, School of InformaticsFixed Term: 13 monthsFull Time: 35 hours per week The Opportunity: The position is in collaboration with the Huawei Trustworthy Technology and Engineering Laboratory Munich (TTE-DE). As part of this project, we aim to create a new generation of large language model (LLM) agents that are more reliable, consistent and trustworthy. This ambitious project will be evaluated on standard benchmarks for agents that are supporting smartphone users. The major aim of the project is to understand where and when current agents fail to reason consistently and augment them with a neuro-symbolic layer that can fix these reasoning shortcomings without compromising performance and scalability. The PDRA will be part of the april Lab at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh which is ranked among the top schools in Europe for AI research according to CSRankings. The PDRA will be supervised by Dr. Antonio Vergari, a leader in tractable probabilistic machine learning and neuro-symbolic AI, and will collaborate with researchers and engineers from the TTE-DE Lab. The PDRA role involves 1) conducting cutting-edge research in LLM agents with neuro-symbolic layers, building on our lab’s pioneering research on reliable and trustworthy ML; and 2) assisting the TTE-DE team with benchmarking different failure models of foundation models and their safer neuro-symbolic version; 3) writing scientific papers documenting the proposed methodology. This position includes funding for international travel to attend conferences and offers access to our HPC infrastructure. The position is open to UK and international applicants, with visa sponsorship available. This post is advertised as full-time (35 hours per week), however, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working. Contact details for enquiries: Antonio Vergari, avergari@ed.ac.uk Your skills and attributes for success: A PhD or near completion in ML, MLSys, NLP or related areas of computer science / engineering / mathematics. Track record of research excellence, evidenced by e.g. publications in top-tier venues. Experience in implementation of foundation models / LLMs, evidenced by e.g. published papers and projects on Github. Experience in implementation of neuro-symbolic systems, evidenced by e.g. published papers and projects on Github. Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab) Application Information Please ensure you include the following documents in your application: CV a 1-page cover letter a 2-page research statement that highlights how the past experience and current interests of the candidate align with this position and the work in the april Lab a list of the 3 most relevant scientific papers and a link to a well maintained codebase As a valued member of our team you can expect: A competitive salary An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits Championing equality, diversity and inclusion The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality. Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab) The University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role.  This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant. Key dates to note The closing date for applications is 7 January 2026. Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone. Interview dates to be confirmed.