Research Associate (Fixed Term)

University of Cambridge - Department of Computer Science and Technology

Placed On: 19th December 2025

Closes: 4th January 2026

Job Ref: NR48358

Location: West Cambridge

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 12 months in the first instance.

The Department of Computer Science and Technology is an academic department that encompasses computer science along with many aspects of engineering, technology and mathematics. We have a worldwide reputation for academic research with consistent top research ratings. The Department has an open and collaborative culture, supporting revolutionary fundamental computer science research, strong cross-cutting collaborations internally and externally, and ideas which transform computing outside the University. Please follow the link at: https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk to find out more about our department.

The Energy & Environment Group in Cambridge is developing the infrastructure for disseminating scholarly data in a variety of formats; not just published papers but also datasets, code, machine learning embeddings and computation pipelines.

We now seek a Research Associate to help us build out the distributed infrastructure to "connect the dots" across several of these, notably by using the ATProto protocol to coordinate complex pipelines. We seek to develop ATProto applications for publishing large datasets (e.g. from our LIFE biodiversity pipeline), and for code hosting (e.g. via Tangled.org), and for federated data product pipelines (e.g. via Docker and Tangled Spindles for LIFE/STAR biodiversity metrics), and peer review mechanisms that can work across all of these. All of our outputs are open source, but support for permissioned access to resources will be key to the success of the architecture.

Requirements: Candidates a PhD in computer science, or possess an equivalent experience. The role holder must have a track record of development of ATProto related code and infrastructure. Similarly, the role holder must have a good understanding of version control technologies such as Git and/or JJ. The ideal candidates should also have experience of managing own workload.

In addition to the base salary stated above, the successful candidate for this post will receive an additional 2.5% supplement to their pay.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please click 'Apply' above.

Questions about the post and the recruitment process may be addressed to the HR Team at hr-admin@cst.cam.ac.uk

Please quote reference NR48358 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.