The role
We are looking for a Research Associate to help design collaborative and distributed AI for manufacturing sustainability, working across human, digital, and robotic agents.
This role is part of a new national research hub aiming to revolutionise UK manufacturing through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and support the achievement of Net Zero by 2050. The Co-AIMS (Collaborative AI for Manufacturing Sustainability) Hub seeks to pioneer AI-powered manufacturing ecosystems that eliminate waste, boost productivity, and enhance sustainability.
Backed by £13.7 million in funding from the UKRI Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the hub brings together leading experts from the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Oxford, and Sheffield, as well as Cranfield University. Led by Professor Niels Lohse at the University of Birmingham, the team will collaborate with manufacturers, technology providers, innovation centres, business associations, and regional authorities.
Your specific role will be to design hybrid collective AI approaches for the distributed design, planning, and control of manufacturing ecosystems involving human, digital, and robotic agents.
We are looking for a researcher who is comfortable working at the cutting edge of distributed AI and/or swarm engineering, collaborating within large consortia, and engaging with industrial partners to translate research into real-world applications.
What will you be doing?
1. Perform state-of-the-art research in distributed AI. Areas include swarm engineering and robotics, collaborative awareness, cognition using onboard edge-AI and perception, sustainable manufacturing, agentic and distributed AI, and interfaces for intuitive human-agent interactions. Depending on your expertise, you will only focus on one or two of these areas.
2. Translate results to physical testbeds (DOTS swarm arena) and potentially to application through industrial collaborations.
3. Work with a multidisciplinary team and stakeholders.
4. Prepare conference and journal papers for publication.
5. Contribute to regular events hosted by the hub.
6. Participate in national and international conferences and workshops.
You should apply if
7. You are working towards or have a relevant PhD degree or equivalent professional qualification/experience in Robotics, Engineering, Computer Science, Maths or closely related discipline (e.g. social science applied to technology).
8. Expertise relevant to one of these areas: distributed AI, agentic AI, edge AI, swarm robotics.
9. Demonstrated expertise publishing results in journals and/or conferences.
10. Experience working in collaborative environments.