Research Fellow, School of Electronics and Computer Science

EURAXESS Czech Republic; Southampton; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a researcher for an exciting 12-month project focused on developing efficient search algorithms for personal online datastores. This full-time role, based at a prestigious university, offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research in the field of computer science. You will collaborate with leading academics and industry partners, contributing to innovative solutions in distributed query processing and information retrieval. If you have a passion for advancing technology and hold a PhD in computer science, this position could be your next career milestone.

Benefits

Staff benefits

Flexible working hours

Access to research facilities

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• PhD in computer science or equivalent qualifications required.
• Experience in distributed database systems and information retrieval is essential.

Responsibilities

• Research on decentralised algorithms and indexing techniques for large-scale data search.
• Collaborate with professors and industry stakeholders on project-related tasks.

Skills

Linked Data

Semantic Web technologies

Distributed query processing

Information retrieval

Computer networking

Education

PhD in Computer Science

Tools

SOLID

NSS

Dataswyft/HAT

gtk-gnutella

Gaian DB

Job description

Organisation/Company: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

Research Field: Computer Science

Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2), First Stage Researcher (R1), Established Researcher (R3)

Country: United Kingdom

Application Deadline: 4 Jun 2025 - 00:00 (UTC)

Type of Contract: Other

Job Status: Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? No

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The post is full-time for 12 months. The starting date will be 1 August 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter.

We are seeking a researcher to work on the EPSRC-funded ESPRESSO project (“Efficient Search over Personal Repositories - Secure and Sovereign”).

The post is based at the School of Electronics and Computer Science, Southampton. The project involves researching, developing, and evaluating decentralised algorithms, meta-information data structures, and indexing techniques for large-scale data search across Personal Online Datastores (pods) hosted on distributed pod servers. The focus is on keyword-based search and SPARQL querying. The project will build on existing frameworks such as SOLID, NSS, Dataswyft/HAT, gtk-gnutella, Gaian DB.

You will collaborate with Professors Thanassis Tiropanis and Adriane Chapman (University of Southampton), Professors Alexandra Poulovassilis and George Roussos (Birkbeck, University of London), partner organizations (Dataswyft and the NExT++ Centre, Singapore), and industry stakeholders. Your responsibilities include research on distributed query processing and information retrieval for text and RDF files. Experience with Linked Data and Semantic Web technologies is essential; familiarity with web redecentralisation and testbed development is desirable. The research involves using benchmarks and synthetic datasets related to health and wellbeing. Administrative tasks related to project management and funder requirements are also part of the role.

Applicants must have a PhD in computer science or equivalent qualifications and experience, ideally in distributed database systems, information retrieval, computer networking, or semantic web.

The role does not involve working outside the UK for more than 30 days consecutively or over 90 days annually.

*Applications from candidates working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD will be considered. Upon PhD completion, the title of Research Fellow will be awarded. Before qualification, the title of Senior Research Assistant will be used.

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