Assistant Research Professor (Software Engineer) (Fixed Term)

University of Cambridge; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

CRUK Cambridge Institute, a world-leading research unit within the University of Cambridge, seeks an Assistant Research Professor with a software engineering background to lead AI-focused software projects in support of the Institute's research strategy.

Embedded in the Markowetz group, you will evaluate, adapt and integrate AI tools, promote good software engineering practices, and collaborate across the CRUK AI Alliance to advance foundational models and research workflows while training

Qualifications

• Background in software engineering with research experience is preferred.
• Ability to evaluate AI tools for research relevance and fit.
• Experience collaborating across groups and institutions is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate AI tools for relevance to the Institute's research needs.
• Build, adapt and integrate selected AI tools into existing systems and workflows.
• Test and validate AI outputs to the standards required for research use.
• Communicate the capabilities and limitations of AI tools to non-specialist researchers.
• Guide best practices around AI tool use and software development; provide training.
• Collaborate with cross-group teams to share evaluations and avoid duplication.
• Liaise with external groups to inform evaluation and adoption decisions.
• Maintain and troubleshoot integrated tools; stay updated with AI/software landscape.
• Report progress and outcomes of evaluations and integrations to Institute and CRUK AI Alliance.

Skills

Software engineering

AI tool evaluation

Collaboration

Tools

Git

Testing frameworks

Job description

Join us at the world-leading CRUK Cambridge Institute. We're a unique department of the University of Cambridge, core funded by Cancer Research UK's charitable activities, and we're eagerly searching for an Assistant Research Professor with a background in software engineering to join us in a unique role.

Embedded in the Institute's Markowetz research group, the Assistant Research Professor role will lead critical software engineering research projects in support of the Institute's AI research strategy, and as part of the wider cross-Institutional CRUK AI Alliance.

The CRUK AI Alliance will link all four CRUK institutes and partners through shared infrastructure, data and expertise. The Alliance will build foundation models spanning genotype, molecular regulatory networks and tumour-organ interactions, factoring in age, sex and environmental exposure. These models will let federated teams study disease processes that can't be observed directly, such as pre-cancerous lesions, dormant residual disease and tumour-organ interactions. The Alliance will pursue questions such as: What drives cancer initiation, and how can it be intercepted to prevent disease? How can we infer patient states that can't currently be measured? How do we deliver precision healthcare? By pairing shared AI infrastructure with question-focused workstreams, the Alliance aims to make the UK cancer research ecosystem more cohesive and powerful, enabling approaches beyond the reach of current methods.

Principal responsibilities will include:

• Evaluate new and existing AI tools and software for relevance and fit to the Institute's research needs.
• Build, adapt and integrate selected AI tools into the Institute's existing systems and workflows.
• Test and validate AI tool outputs against the standards required for research use.
• Communicate the capabilities and limitations of AI tools clearly to non-specialist researchers.
• Guide the Institute in adopting good practice around AI tool use and software development and provide training on using adopted or built tools effectively.
• Collaborate with other groups across the Institute and the CRUK AI Alliance to share evaluations and avoid duplicated effort.
• Liaise with external groups and developers to inform evaluation and adoption decisions.
• Follow good software engineering practice (version control, testing, documentation) when building or adapting tools.
• Assess the trade-offs (cost, maintainability, data security) between adopting third-party tools and building bespoke solutions.
• Report on the progress and outcomes of evaluations and integrations to the Institute and wider CRUK AI Alliance.
• Maintain and troubleshoot integrated tools, and keep up to date with a fast-moving AI/software landscape.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 1 years in the first instance.

Applications are welcome from internal candidates who would like to apply for the role on the basis of a secondment from their current role in the University.

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.