Overview
Research Associate role at The University of Edinburgh
Full-time, 35 hours per week. Fixed term contract.
UE07: £41,064.00 - £48,822.00 per annum.
Location: CSG / School of Informatics.
The Opportunity
The project is fully funded by the AI for Math Fund from Renaissance Philanthropy and XTX Markets. Its central goal is the development of Sketchpad, an AI-powered system that enables users to navigate semi-formal proofs (i.e., formal sketches), with Lean and Isabelle serving as the formal backends.
Job Description
The PDRA will be jointly supervised by Dr Wenda Li (AI for Mathematics), Dr Mai Luo (ML Systems), and Prof. Larry Paulson (Formal Logic), and will collaborate with team members based at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, and the University of Cambridge.
The Role Involves
* Conducting cutting-edge research on the design of semi-formal proofs that effectively interface LLMs with proof assistants;
* Designing and implementing an RL/agentic framework to leverage multiple forms of feedback within a theorem-proving environment. This position includes funding for international travel to attend leading conferences.
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.
Application Documents
* CV
* 1-page cover letter
* A maximum of 3 scientific papers and a link to a codebase that illustrate the research quality of the candidate and their affinity with the research topic
Your Skills And Attributes For Success
* A PhD or near completion in PL, Formal Verification, NLP, ML, or related areas of computer science / engineering / mathematics.
* Track record of research excellence, evidenced by e.g. preprints / publication record.
* Experience in working with large formalisation projects or implementation of foundation models / LLMs, evidenced by e.g. projects on Github.
* Willingness to explore and adapt to new tasks (both LLM and AI4Math are new fields, and so much to learn from scratch).
* Good written and communication skills.
Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab)
Remuneration and Benefits
* Grade: UE07 £41,064-£48,822 per annum
* Benefits include competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. See staff benefits page for full list.
Other
Right to work in the UK will be evidenced before employment. Closing date: 20 October 2025. Closing time: 11:59pm GMT. If applying outside the UK, the closing time adapts to local time.
About Us
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we address tomorrow’s greatest challenges with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and global partnerships.
Seniority level: Entry level
Employment type: Full-time
Job function: Research, Analyst, and Information Technology
Industries: Higher Education
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