Postdoctoral Research Associate in Wearable Sensors

Research Assistant / Associate School of Engineering and Physical Sciences Institute of Sensors Signals and Systems

Grade and Salary: Grade 6 31236 - 36636; Grade 7 37694 - 47389 (Grade depends on experience)

Contract details: Fixed term for 13 months full time

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leaveplus 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 Parkinsons 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 Universitys 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

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight(UK time)on

Pleasesubmit your CV & covering letter via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment.

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