Research Associate / Senior Research Associate In Intelligent Optical Network Architecture

University of Bristol; West of England; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Bristol seeks a Research Associate or Senior Research Associate for HASC Phase 2 to advance programmable optical networks and intelligent automation. You will prototype systems, work with academic and industrial partners, and contribute to fast recovery from failures using hollow-core fibre technologies.

You will publish results, participate in collaborative projects, and, at senior level, lead initiatives and mentor junior researchers within a multidisciplinary team.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent research experience in optical communications, networking or related field.
• Experience with optical network architectures and control/orchestration; strong programming ability.
• Track record of research publications and collaborative work.

Responsibilities

• Develop architectures for metro, access and data centre connectivity.
• Create automation, orchestration and resource-control algorithms.
• Investigate fault detection, reconfiguration and recovery for resilient networks.
• Prototype and validate hardware or software solutions via lab/testbed experiments (JOINER).
• Publish findings and contribute to collaborations, proposals, standards and patents.
• Senior level: lead initiatives, mentor early career researchers and coordinate activities.

Skills

Optical communications

Programming skills

Automation & orchestration

Research publications

Education

PhD in optical communications or related field

Tools

JOINER

Job description

The role

Develop the intelligent, resilient optical networks that future AI, cloud and edge systems will depend on.

Join the University of Bristol’s Smart Internet Lab as a Research Associate or Senior Research Associate on HASC Phase 2, the EPSRC Hub for All-Spectrum Connectivity. Working with academic and industrial partners, you will develop programmable optical networks, intelligent automation and rapid recovery from failures, and explore new network solutions using hollow-core fibre.

Our multidisciplinary environment connects optical and wireless communications, networking, cloud technologies and AI, giving you opportunities to turn research ideas into working demonstrations.

What will you be doing?

You will develop architectures for metro, access and data centre connectivity; create automation, orchestration and resource-control algorithms; and investigate fault detection, reconfiguration and recovery. Sensing, telemetry and physical-layer monitoring will inform closed-loop control and resilient operation.

You will prototype and validate hardware or software solutions through laboratory and testbed experiments, using infrastructure including JOINER where appropriate. You will publish and present your findings and contribute to partner collaborations, research proposals, standards and patent applications.

At Senior Research Associate level, you will also take significant research initiative, support early career researchers or students and help coordinate collaborative activities.

You should apply if

You will have a PhD, be nearing completion, or have equivalent research experience in optical communications, telecommunications, networking, electronic engineering, computer science or a related discipline.

You should bring knowledge of optical network architectures; experience in network control, automation, orchestration or resilience; and practical experience of optical communication systems or network testbeds. Programming skills and evidence of research achievement through publications or relevant research and development experience are essential.

We welcome complementary strengths across these disciplines. AI/ML, software-defined networking, automated recovery, fibre sensing or telemetry experience is valuable; expertise in every research theme is not required. Clear communication, teamwork and a willingness to learn are essential.