Lectureship in Robotics; Manchester University

[Jon Shapiro]

University of Manchester
Department of Computer Science
Lecturer in Robotics

The Computer Science Department at the University of Manchester is
seeking to appoint a lecturer in Robotics. The Department has recently
been given a 5* rating in the Research Assessment Exercise.

The Department has built up one of the UK leading mobile robotics labs,
supported by a well-trained technical support staff. We currently teach
both an undergraduate and an MSc course in mobile robotics which the
successful candidate will be expected to take over.

It is expected that the appointee will join a strong Artificial
Intelligence group and contribute to or complement the current activities
in machine learning, spatial and temporal reasoning, and computation of
language. There will also be the opportunity to collaborate with other
research groups within the Department.  

Of particular interest are the following:
- the Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering group, who are interested
in medical robotics and computer-aided surgery;
- the Mobile Systems Architecture group, who need a platform for research
into terrain mapping and geolocation, using radio communication signals in
a mobile Wireless LAN;
- the Advanced Interfaces group, who are interested in using video footage
captured by a robot camera to reverse engineer buildings.

The successful candidate will have a track record of publications in these
or related areas.

More information about current robotics activity in the Department can be
found at
	http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/robotics/

Annex A

Particulars of Appointment - Lecturer in Robotics, Department of Computer
Science

Job Description

The Lecturer's primary duties will lie in teaching, research, and
administration. During the probationary period, the Lecturer will expect to
be granted some relief from standard teaching and administrative duties in
order to develop their research capabilities.

Research
The appointee will join a strong Artificial Intelligence group and will be
expected to contribute to or complement the current research activities in
machine learning, spatial and temporal reasoning, and computation of
language. The appointee will undertake research in their specialised area
of robotics in one of the UK leading mobile robotics labs, built up by the
Department over a number of years and will be supported by a well-trained
technical support staff.

There will also be the opportunity to collaborate with other research
groups within the Department.  Of particular interest are the following:
- the Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering group, who are interested
in medical robotics and computer-aided surgery;
- the Mobile Systems Architecture group, who need a platform for research
into terrain mapping and geolocation, using radio communication signals in
a mobile Wireless LAN;
- the Advanced Interfaces group, who are interested in using video footage
captured by a robot camera to reverse engineer buildings.

The successful candidate will be expected to produce high quality
publications in these or related areas, attending relevant conferences and
workshops and disseminating recent research results whenever possible. The
appointee will also be expected to make applications for research grants
and funding from relevant bodies.

More information about current robotics activity in the Department can be
found at
	http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/robotics/

Teaching 
The successful candidate will be expected to undertake teaching both at
undergraduate and postgraduate level and to contribute to the development
of Computer Science teaching. 

The appointee will take over the teaching of the current undergraduate and
MSc modules in mobile robotics. The appointee will be expected to develop
teaching material and learning experiences for students in the light of
current educational practice, in particular by attending the University's
training course for newly appointed lecturers and to participate in the
planning and development of courses within the framework of Departmental
and Faculty committees. Other teaching duties may include supervising
laboratory and examples classes, conducting tutorials and supervise
undergraduate and MSc projects. The appointee may also be required to
undertake the supervision of research students.

Administration
The appointee will be expected to undertake Departmental administrative
duties as agreed with the Head of Department.

Person Specification

Applicants for the lectureship will be expected to have:

-	a good honours degree in Computer Science (and preferably a PhD)
-	several years experience in a research environment, either in industry or
academia
-	a strong publication record in the relevant area (see Job Description
above) or, if coming from industry, an equivalent indication of output
- 	the ability and willingness to teach in their specialised areas and to
contribute to core computer science teaching
-	the ability and willingness to undertake normal administrative duties
-	ability to work as part of a team
-	good communication skills
-	preferably some research experience as part of a multidisciplinary team



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Jonathan Shapiro
        Computer Science Dept           Room:   2.34   
        University of Manchester        Phone:  44-(0)161 275 6253
        Oxford Road                     Fax:    44-(0)161 275 6204
        Manchester M13 9PL              E-mail: jls at cs.man.ac.uk
        United Kingdom.

FTP site: ftp.cs.man.ac.uk in directory /pub/ai/jls 
WWW site: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/ai/jls/jls.html