Research Fellow in Multisensory Design

UCL; Greater London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

UCL's Department of Computer Science invites applications for a Research Fellow in the Multi-Sensory Devices Group. You will design, develop and evaluate interactive prototypes that integrate vision, touch, sound and other senses, contributing to multisensory XR applications.

Applicants should hold a PhD (or be near submission) in HCI, CS, or XR/VR, with strong skills in user-centred design, experimental studies and hardware-software prototyping.

Qualifications

• PhD (or near completion) in HCI, CS or XR/VR.
• Strong programming and prototyping skills.
• Experience with empirical user studies and data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop and evaluate interactive prototypes across sensory modalities.
• Collaborate with researchers and external partners on multisensory HCI projects.

Skills

User-centered design

Experimental research

Prototyping & programming

XR/VR development

Education

PhD or near completion in HCI/CS/XR

Job description

The role is funded until 31st August 2028 in the first instance.

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 is based within the Multi-Sensory Devices (MSD) Group, which conducts interdisciplinary research spanning Human-Computer Interaction, multisensory interfaces, haptics, sensory technologies, interactive systems and emerging applications in healthcare and human-centred computing.

About the role

The post is based within UCL Computer Science's Multi-Sensory Devices (MSD) Group and will contribute to interdisciplinary research developing novel multisensory interactions, interfaces and experiences.

The Research Fellow will design, develop and evaluate interactive prototypes integrating sensory modalities such as vision, sound, touch, smell and taste, including multisensory XR applications where relevant. The postholder will work across interaction design, software-hardware prototyping, sensory-device integration and empirical user research, collaborating with researchers and external partners to advance multisensory HCI research.

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 with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD Thesis.

About you

You will have a PhD (or be near completion) in Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Interaction Design, XR/VR or a closely related discipline, with strong expertise in user-centred interaction design and experimental research methods. You will have experience developing interactive applications or research prototypes, excellent programming and prototyping skills, and experience integrating software with interactive hardware, sensors or sensory devices. You will also have experience designing and conducting empirical user studies, analysing research data and communicating findings through high-quality scientific publications. We particularly welcome candidates with experience in multisensory interfaces, sensory technologies or XR/VR applications, who can work independently and collaboratively within interdisciplinary research teams.

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.

Customer advert reference: B04-07977

£44,861 to £55,099. Grade 6B - 7