Research Assistant / Associate School of Engineering and Physical Sciences Institute of Sensors, Signals and Systems
Grade and Salary: Grade 6 £31,236 - £36,636; Grade 7 £37,694 - £47,389 (Grade depends on experience)
Contract details: Fixed term for 13 months, full time
Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)
Job Purpose
To make a leading contribution to PD-WATCH, a project funded through the Tay Health Tech Grand Challenge, focused on the development and clinical validation of a miniaturised, flexible wearable patch for continuous tremor monitoring in Parkinson’s disease. Working with Dr Anne Bernassau and Prof Marc Desmulliez, the PDRA will support hardware optimisation, data acquisition, machine-learning pipelines for tremor classification, and clinical validation in collaboration with NHS Lothian.
The successful candidate will contribute to experimental design, data analysis, the preparation of publications, and support management of this interdisciplinary project. For appointment at Grade 7, significant experience in the areas listed below is required. The PD-WATCH project aims to develop wearable-based tremor assessment tools that can capture tremor severity, tremor subtype, and medication response in real-world settings, supporting future integration into NHS remote monitoring pathways.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
1. Take a leading role in the planning and conduct of assigned research individually or jointly in accordance with the project deliverables and project strategy. This includes hardware refinement, tremor-signal acquisition, and algorithm development.
2. Characterisation analysis and interpretation of tremor data, including maintenance of datasets, documentation, drafting technical reports and scientific publications.
3. Establish and maintain your research profile in sensor systems, biomedical signal processing, wearable technologies, or related fields, through publications and research dissemination,
4. Survey the research literature and environment, understand the research challenges associated with the project & subject area, & develop/implement a suitable research strategy.
5. Presentation of work at international and national conferences, at internal and external seminars, colloquia and workshops to develop and enhance our research profile.
6. Take a leading role in developing and maintaining collaborations with colleagues across the research group/School/College/University and broader community of academic and industrial partners.
7. Take a leading role in team/group meetings/seminars/workshops and School research group activities to enhance the wider knowledge, outputs and culture of the School/College.
8. Take the lead in the organisation, supervision, mentoring and training of undergraduate and/or postgraduate students and less experienced members of the project team to ensure their effective development.
9. Perform administrative tasks related to the activities of the research group and School, including Budgets/Expenditure.
10. Keep up to date with current knowledge and recent advances in the field/discipline.
11. Engage in personal, professional and career development, to enhance both specialist and transferable skills in accordance with desired career trajectory.
12. Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the Head of School/Director of Research Institute.
13. Contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with the University Strategy.
For appointment at grade 7:
14. Take the lead in identifying and attracting new sources of independent and external research funding and researchers into this research area as opportunities permit to support future research.
15. Present research findings at high-profile national and international conferences, seminars and meetings to raise the profile of the research group to enhance the research strength of the School.
16. Make a leading contribution to the management of the team/project and sustain an enhanced level of academic outputs and profile.
These key tasks are not intended to be exhaustive but highlight a number of major tasks which the staff member may reasonably be expected to perform.
Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience Knowledge and Qualifications
Essential
A1 Normally Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 12 (PhD) or alternatively possess the equivalent in professional qualifications and experience, with experience of personal development in a similar or related role(s).
A2. A comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of current issues and future directions within the field of inertial sensing, biomedical signal analysis, wearable devices, or related technical areas.
A3. Evidenced track record in analytical ability and data-processing skills relevant to tremor or movement-disorder data. For appointment at grade 7 the following are also required:
A4. Specialist theoretical and practical knowledge in biomedical sensing, wearable systems, tremor analysis, or movement-disorder signal processing.
A5. Knowledge of advanced machine-learning or deep-learning approaches for biosignal analysis.
A6. Understanding of technologies relevant to real-world deployments, such as embedded systems design, firmware programming, or low-power sensor design.
Grade 6 - Skills Essential
C1 Research or Industrial creativity and strong cross-discipline collaborative ability
C2 Excellent communication skills (oral and written), including public presentations and ability to communicate complex data/concepts clearly and concisely
C3 Excellent interpersonal skills including team working and a collegiate approach
C4 Appropriate workload/time/project/budget/people management skills
C5 Extensive IT and data analysis/interpretation skills as appropriate
C6 Self-motivation, initiative and independent thought/working
C7 Problem solving skills including a flexible and pragmatic approach C8 Good Team Leadership skills including demonstrable supervisory skills
Grade 7 - Skills Essential
C9 Evidence of expertise in wearable-sensor development, embedded systems, or advanced data analysis.
C10 Able to work both individually as well as part of a team and manage staff members as appropriate to disseminate findings to colleagues
C11 Strong cross-discipline collaborative ability, including evidence of working across industry and academia;
C12 Able to work in both industrial and academic environments with a good understanding of key legislative and process frameworks and/or industrial technology and approaches.
Experience Essential:
E1 Sufficient depth of relevant research or industrial experience, including postdoctoral experience in biomedical engineering or closely related industrial applications, at a level appropriate for an early-career researcher.
E2 Evidenced track record in analysing sensor or time-series biomedical data.
E3. Proven ability to deliver quality outputs in a timely and efficient manner.
E4 A track record of presentation and publication of research results in quality publications/conferences.
E5. Experience of making a leading contribution in academic activities.
E6: Ability to demonstrate a degree of independence as illustrated by identification of project objectives from assessment of the literature, design & analysis of experiments & drafting of papers.
E7. Experience in undertaking independent research.
E8. Commitment to open research, as appropriate to the discipline, through open data, open code, open educational resources and practices that support replication.
E9. Proven commitment to supporting the career development of colleagues and to other forms of collegiality appropriate to the career stage. For appointment at grade 7 the following are also required:
E10. Experience of independence as illustrated by identification of project objectives from assessment of literature, design and analysis of research data and drafting of papers