[visionlist] [Jobs] 2 post-doc positions in Socially Acceptable Extended Reality Systems, King’s College London, UK

[Oya Celiktutan]

*** Apologies for cross-posting. Please share with interested candidates. ***

### Job description

The post-doctoral researchers will join a team at King’s College London in the context of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) project “SERMAS: Socially-acceptable Extended Reality Systems and Models”. The team at King's comprises Dr Oya Celiktutan (Department of Engineering), and Prof. Luca Viganò (Department of Informatics). This is an exciting opportunity to join our team and participate in a new area of research, and in the process collaborate with our SERMAS partners in Italy, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland.   

The revolutionary opportunities opened by eXtended Reality (XR) technologies will only materialize if concepts, techniques, and tools are provisioned to ensure the social acceptance of XR systems. For that, we need XR systems that are not just innovative and functionally complex, but also provide an experience that: satisfies the goals and needs of the user, is in compliance with the social context in which the system is being used, and is transparent, safe, secure, explainable and is trusted by the user. However, current generations of XR systems fail to provide the XR experience they were envisioned for since state-of-the-art models and technologies of XR systems fail to ensure full-fledged social acceptance. A truly XR experience requires a major paradigm shift in the way XR systems are designed, implemented, deployed and consumed. The SERMAS project will develop innovative, formal and systematic methodologies and technologies to model, develop, analyze, test and user-study socially- acceptable XR systems.    

### Position 1

Research Associate in Socially Intelligent Robotic Systems
Duration: 24 months, full-time
Start date: flexible, latest in May
Link: https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/056585/%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8BPost-doctoral-Researcher-in-Socially-Intelligent-Robotic-Systems%E2%80%8B <https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/056585/%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8BPost-doctoral-Researcher-in-Socially-Intelligent-Robotic-Systems%E2%80%8B>

The SERMAS project aims to develop the next generation of interactive agents that can cooperate with and assist humans in a socially acceptable manner, with higher levels of autonomy. This requires novel approaches for multilevel analyses of human behaviour, for example, from their gestures to their emotions and personality, and multimodal synthesis of such behaviours via virtual agents/robots for system adaptation and personalization. The developed agents will be evaluated in real-world scenarios taking roles as receptionist, training coach, and office assistant. The role holder will be highly experienced in machine learning applied to human behaviour analysis and synthesis via embodied agents and human-robot interaction, as well as have a strong publication record in related areas. The research will have a substantial multidisciplinary ambition, but a PhD in computer science, mathematics or engineering is essential. 

# Key responsibilities
The successful candidate is expected to:
1.     shape and engage in advanced multi-disciplinary research in collaboration with the SERMAS partners
2.     maintain an outstanding track record of published research at a level of international excellence and
3.     lead activities promoting research impact

# Skills, knowledge, and experience 
Essential criteria  
1.     PhD degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field. [or near completion] 
2.     Strong background in machine learning, with specialisation in one or more of the following areas: human-robot interaction, extended reality systems, human behaviour analysis and synthesis, human-centric computer vision, and multimodal learning. 
3.     Excellent publication record in high-quality journals and/or conference proceedings. 
4.     Excellent programming skills, particularly, Python and/or C/C++. Hands-on experience with deep learning libraries (e.g., PyTorch) and/or physical robots will be a plus.  
5.     Ability to organise and prioritise work to meet deadlines with minimal supervision.  
6.     Excellent interpersonal/teamwork skills. 

Desirable criteria
1.     Experience in devising and developing novel machine learning algorithms.  
2.     Excellent mathematics skills.  
3.     Familiarity with managing project work packages and writing deliverables.  

### Position 2

Research Associate in Formal and Automated Security Analysis of Extended Reality Systems
Duration: 33 months, full-time
Start date: ASAP
Link: https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/056268/Post-doctoral-Researcher <https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/056268/Post-doctoral-Researcher>

To provide all stakeholders of Extended Reality systems with the different levels of certified assurance that they require, the SERMAS Toolkit will rely on the development and application of formal methods and tools for compositional security assessment. Formal methods will also us to formalise and integrate explanations in the different phases of system development, from design to execution. It will be necessary to identify reasonable trade-offs that will allow to adapt explanations so that they can be verified and accepted by the different stakeholders, while at the same time guaranteeing the validity and formality of the explanations. The role holder will be highly experienced in cybersecurity and formal methods, as well as have a strong publication record in related areas. The research will have a substantial multidisciplinary ambition, but a PhD in computer science, mathematics or engineering is essential.

# Key responsibilities
The successful candidate is expected to:
1.     shape and engage in advanced multi-disciplinary research in collaboration with the SERMAS partners
2.     maintain an outstanding track record of published research at a level of international excellence and
3.     lead activities promoting research impact

# Skills, knowledge, and experience
Essential criteria
1.     PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Extended Reality systems, cybersecurity, formal methods, artificial intelligence or related field [or near completion]
2.     Solid background in formal methods
3.     Solid background in cybersecurity
4.     Enthusiasm to work collaboratively with partners from multiple disciplines across the international project.

Desirable criteria
1.     Solid background in Extended Reality
2.     Excellent publication record in high-quality journals and/or conference proceedings.
3.     Knowledge of various related subdisciplines including privacy, robotics, human-computer interaction, machine learning, user studies
4.     Familiarity with aspects of ethics of extended/augmented reality systems
5.     Ability to organise and prioritise work to meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
6.     Familiarity with managing project work packages and writing deliverables

### Further information

The selection process will include a brief pre-recorded video presentation and an online panel interview. Interviews are scheduled to be held in November.  Detailed scheduling will be confirmed once shortlisting has taken place.

### About King’s College London

King’s College London is located at the heart of London. Our staff and students come from all over the world. The Department of Engineering and Department of Informatics are proud of its friendly and inclusive culture and are committed to ensuring an inclusive interview process. They will reimburse up to £250 towards any additional care costs (for a dependent child or adult) incurred because of attending an interview for this position.  

For further information about the Department of Engineering at King’s, please see  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/engineering/research. The candidate will be a member of the Social AI & Robotics Laboratory, please see  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/helping-robots-to-understand-people-the-work-of-the-social-ai-and-robotics-lab.  

For further information about the Department of Informatics at King’s, please see  https://nms.kcl.ac.uk/luc.moreau/informatics/overview.pdf. The candidate will be a member of the Cybersecurity Group and of the Security Hub, please see   https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/cys and https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/security-informatics.


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