Senior Research Associate - Consequential LCA for AI

International Society for Industrial Ecology; Bristol; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research organization in Bristol is seeking a Senior Research Associate to study the environmental impacts of AI and video technology. You will conduct research, develop life cycle models, and lead collaborative projects. Required qualifications include a PhD in AI or a related field and experience with environmental assessments. The role offers full-time or part-time options with a supportive team environment.

Qualifications

• Research experience in a relevant field.
• Experience in assessing environmental impacts of digital technologies.

Responsibilities

• Conduct original research on environmental impacts of digital services.
• Implement or lead life cycle assessment modelling.
• Collaborate with engineers and designers across the digital media value chain.
• Support or lead development of carbon reduction strategies.
• Contribute or lead high-impact academic publications and policy outputs.

Skills

Understanding of web-service architectures

Knowledge of environmental assessments for digital services

Excellent communication skills

Cross-disciplinary collaboration skills

Experience with life-cycle assessment (LCA)

Education

Good honours degree in a relevant field

PhD or equivalent expertise in AI or related field

Job description

Senior Research Associate - Consequential LCA for AI

The role

This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled and motivated researcher to study the environmental impact of future video technology, the role that AI plays in it, and develop strategies to reduce it.

The ad is written to address a wider audience, but we are strongly encouraging IE researchers to apply.

As part of our team and depending on experience, you will build on your existing knowledge of energy efficiency of AI and video communication and:

• Develop life cycle models of the environmental impacts of current and future media services (e.g., real-time video, AI generated content).
• Identify hotspots, trends, and robust strategies for impact reduction.
• Investigate how AI transforms the digital media value chain and
• Collect new data from measurements of servers and devices

You will be part of the Sustainable Technology Lab (STL) and collaborate with our academic and industrial partners. We take a multidisciplinary approach, combining deep technical expertise with long-term sustainability thinking. STL is part of the Bristol Interaction Group (http://biglab.co.uk/labs/ ), a vibrant multidisciplinary research community of 11 academics and 40 postdoctoral researchers and students. Among our partners are leading media organisations from the DIMPACT consortium (dimpact.org).

In this technical role you will collaborate closely within the STL and with our partners and contribute to academic publications, open datasets, or policy recommendations. Through your experiments and study of trends in hardware and software energy efficiency you will build models and develop guidance for a range of stakeholders. Excellent professional communication skills are essential.

You will be part of a highly inclusive and supportive team, with training provided to support your needs and time allocated for professional development.

What will you be doing?

The role is offered full-time or part-time, and at Research Associate (RA) and Senior Research Associate (SRA) level.

Responsibilities

• Conduct original research on the environmental impacts of digital services, including AI and video streaming.
• Implement (RA) or lead (SRA) life cycle assessment modelling
• Collaborate effectively with engineers, designers, and business managers across the digital media value chain.
• Support (RA) or lead (SRA) development of carbon reduction strategies for industry, policy, and research stakeholders.
• Contribute to (RA) or lead (SRA) high-impact academic publications, open datasets, and policy outputs.

Qualifications

• RA: A good honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field and demonstrable research experience.
• SRA: A PhD or equivalent expertise in AI, video communication, or a closely related area, combined with experience in assessing the environmental impacts of digital technologies.

Knowledge and Skills

• Understanding of web-service architectures, including networking and servers.
• Knowledge of environmental assessments for digital services.
• Excellent communication and cross-disciplinary collaboration skills.
• Track record of contributing (RA) or leading (SRA) high-impact academic outputs.
• Experience with life-cycle assessment (LCA).

Additional information

For informal queries please contact: Associate Professor of Computer Science - Daniel Schien - [e-mail]

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