Research Fellow in Bio-inspired Mechatronic Acoustic Sensing

About us

UCL’s Department of Computer Science (CS) is a top-ranked Computer Science Department in the UK. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) evaluation, UCL Computer Science was ranked second in the UK for research power and first in England.

The post will be based in Dr. Amir Patel’s research group, which develops bio-inspired sensing, robotics and field-deployable technologies for understanding animal movement and environmental signals. The project will be delivered in collaboration with Professor Beth Mortimer at the University of Oxford and UK project partners.

About the role

This post is part of the EPSRC-funded project “Nature’s Antenna: Programmable Webs for Low-Frequency Acoustic Sensing” (AcoustiWeb), which will develop a bio-inspired, low-power sensing node for estimating the direction of arrival of low-frequency sounds outdoors.

The postholder will design, build and test mechatronic and electronic hardware for a piezo-tensioned acoustic sensing lattice, integrate low-noise sensing and embedded readout electronics, and develop signal-processing and calibration methods for pressure-particle velocity fusion, Self-ID/auto-retuning and field trials.

The salary range for this role is £45,103 - £46,261

Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B (salary £39,148 - £40,805 per annum) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD Thesis.

About you

The successful candidate will have, or be close to completing, a PhD in electrical or electronic engineering, mechatronics, robotics, control engineering, applied physics, mechanical engineering, acoustics or a closely related discipline, with a strong emphasis on practical hardware development. They will have demonstrable experience designing, building and testing mechatronic or electronic systems, ideally including sensors, analogue front-end electronics, embedded systems, PCB development, low-power instrumentation, acoustic/vibration measurement or related experimental platforms. Strong mathematical and signal-processing skills are essential, including the ability to analyse noisy sensor data, design calibration procedures and work with physical models of dynamic systems. Experience with firmware, MATLAB/Python, laboratory instrumentation, practical fabrication, field testing and open/reproducible engineering would be highly desirable.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer great benefits. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Our department holds an Athena SWAN Gold award, in recognition of our long-term commitment and 'beacon' status in advancing gender equality.