King's College London

About us

King’s College London (KCL) is a world-renowned Russell Group university, ranked 6th in the UK REF 2021 Power Rankings for research quality, and 3rd for impact. KCL is home to the NMES Net-Zero Centre, which paves the way for interdisciplinary science and technology research for decarbonising society and addressing key environmental issues. 

The Department of Informatics, within which this role is based, also hosts an active Sustainability Hub that runs lectures and supports grassroots sustainability activities within the department.

The PDRA will join the Project Lead’s (Dr Georgia Panagiotidou) research group, a multidisciplinary group working at the intersections of HCI, sustainability and AI. The group’s research focuses on how HCI and data visualisation can support more responsible AI especially in terms of environmental impact.

About the role

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position on the EPSRC project “User-centred Eco-feedback For AI’s Environmental Impact” led by KCL and in collaboration with partner organisations. This project will bring an empirical and human-centred perspective to the ongoing discourse on the environmental impact of AI processes, complementing and extending existing research which currently focuses on energy and water metrics and measurements.

The PDRA will join the Project Lead’s research group. Beyond more traditional qualitative and quantitative methods, the group also employs a variety of approaches including research-through-design, in-the-wild evaluation and probing through data physicalisation.

The PDRA employed on this role will use participatory methods to co-develop an inclusive and collective toolkit that can inform organisations on the environmental impact of their choices. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with two PhDs on the team and will have opportunities to build their research profile through academic publications, presentations, and participation on research funding bids.

Candidates should hold a PhD in HCI, Computer Science or a related discipline and demonstrate skills in sustainable computing, sustainable HCI and/or AI deployment. Experience in conducting participatory design research would be advantageous.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered  a fixed term contract of 3 years ending no later than 31st August 2029.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.     PhD (awarded or close to completion) in relevant subject area (e.g. HCI, Computer Science or similar) 

2.     Expertise in sustainable computing, sustainable HCI and/or AI deployment 

3.     Publication(s) in high quality journals or conferences (e.g. CHI, FAccT, CSCW, IEEE VIS or similar) 

4.     Ability to conduct qualitative research including interviews, co-design sessions and data analysis 

5.     Experience in digital prototyping for building human-centred systems. 

6.     Ability to work collaboratively within interdisciplinary research teams and manage own workload to meet deadlines 

7.     Excellent written and oral communication skills

Desirable criteria

1.      Experience with libraries such as EcoLogits and CodeCarbon  

2.      Familiarity with sustainable AI literature and methods  

3.      Experience with in-the-wild deployments and experiments 

4.      Experience with HAI interaction 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Further Information

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages. Interviews are due to be held early June