Research Associate/Senior Research Associate in Multimodal Foundation Models

Research Associate/Senior Research Associate in Multimodal Foundation Models

1 day ago – be among the first 25 applicants.

The Opportunity

The School of Computer Science and Engineering is offering an opportunity for a Research Associate/Senior Research Associate to conduct independent and collaborative research within the appointed field and further develop expertise in deep learning. This role belongs to a defence‑funded project focused on developing multimodal foundation models using data from a broad range of modalities. The project will develop techniques for pre‑training (such as continual learning and lifelong learning) and post‑training (instruction fine‑tuning and task‑agnostic prompting) adapted for robustness across new modalities, tasks and against adversarial attacks. The models will be evaluated on downstream tasks related to situational understanding and contextual intelligence.

This position offers the chance to advance scholarly research and professional activities at national and international levels, contribute to scientific papers and reports for international journals, participate in conferences and workshops, supervise HDR students, and collaborate with industry partners. The role reports to Professor Flora Salim and has no direct reports.

Key Details

• Salary:
  • Research Associate (Level A) – AUD$113,911 to $121,838 per annum + 17% superannuation
  • Senior Research Associate (Level B, Step 1) – AUD$127,947 per annum + 17% superannuation
• Full time
• Fixed‑term contract – 3.5 years starting in January 2026
• Location: Kensington – Sydney, Australia
• Working rights for Australia required (visa sponsorship not available)

About UNSW

UNSW is one of the largest and most prestigious schools of computing in Australia, offering a diverse and talented community. The School of Computer Science and Engineering provides undergraduate programmes in Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Bioinformatics, as well as combined degrees with other disciplines. Our research and teaching staff are world‑leading, advancing knowledge and learning. For more information, visit UNSW School of CS & Engineering.

Skills and Experience

Research Associate (Level A)

• A PhD (or soon to be awarded) in a related discipline, and/or relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated research track record with publications in top‑tier AI and ML conferences (e.g., CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML).
• Strong experience in at least two of the following areas: deep learning and/or computer vision; continual learning; vision‑language models.
• Experience developing comprehensive benchmarks.
• Robust coding and software engineering skills.
• Practice of maintaining an open‑source code repository.
• Teamwork, collaboration across disciplines, and building effective relationships.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills.
• Commitment to UNSW values, policies, and health & safety responsibilities.

Senior Research Associate (Level B)

• A PhD in a related discipline, and/or relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated research track record with publications in top‑tier AI and ML conferences.
• Strong experience in all of the following areas: deep learning and/or computer vision; continual learning; vision‑language models.
• Experience developing comprehensive benchmarks.
• Robust coding and software engineering skills.
• Experience handling multimodal data, especially videos.
• Proven commitment to keeping up to date with discipline knowledge and developments.
• Significant involvement with the profession/industry.
• Practice of maintaining an open‑source code repository.
• High‑level communication and networking skills.
• Teamwork, collaboration, and effective relationships.
• Ability to build effective networks and generate alternative funding or industry projects.
• Commitment to UNSW values, policies, and health & safety responsibilities.

Additional details about specific responsibilities are provided in the position description available via the UNSW Jobs portal.

To Apply

Please click the “apply now” button and submit a CV, cover letter, and responses to the skills and experience. Systematically address the listed skills and experience within your application. Applicants must have working rights in Australia and be able to be on site in Kensington. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Contact

Eugene Aves – Talent Acquisition Consultant

E: eugene.aves@unsw.edu.au

Applications close

11:55 pm (Sydney time) on Sunday 14 December 2025

Equal Opportunity Statement

UNSW is committed to evolving a culture that embraces equity and supports a diverse and inclusive community where everyone can participate fairly, in a safe and respectful environment. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and encourage applications from people of diverse gender, sexual orientation, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, people with disability and those with caring and family responsibilities. UNSW provides workplace adjustments for people with disability and access to flexible work options for eligible staff. The University reserves the right not to proceed with any appointment.