We are looking to appoint a motivated researcher to work at the forefront of computer science research in sustainability, contributing to real-world solutions that align with societal and environmental goals.

Roles and Responsibility:

We are seeking a highly motivated Research Associate in Computer Science to join our dynamic research team. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research at the intersection of computer science, sustainability, and user-centred digital innovation.

The work is focused on design, prototyping and evaluation of digital services co-created with the communities that will use them, ensuring usability, relevance, and security. The researcher will work collaboratively with researchers, technologists, and stakeholders to develop and evaluate a digital data collection infrastructure to support decision-making and business modelling in circular food systems.

Main Research Responsibilities

• Carry out user studies (e.g., workshops, interviews, focus groups, observations studies) to collect and analyse qualitative and quantitative data informing user interface design for the hub.
• Co-design a services ‘dashboard’ for circular economy.
• Design prototypes for data collection within the observed user environments to place buy/sell orders on the Hub (e.g., for approximate quantities of apples, cider, or their by-products).
• Evaluate developed solutions (e.g., through task-based assessments and end-user feedback) to refine and improve the services.
• Collaborate with hub developer and other researchers on the project.
• Publish in high-impact journals and present at international conferences.

Key Skills

Essential

• Demonstrated ability to co-design and evaluate digital solutions with users.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, particularly for interdisciplinary research and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to work independently with feedback.
• Track record in research related to computer science (e.g., software engineering, agile development, human-computer interaction, etc.).

Desirable

• Experience of decentralised and/or multi-party platform design.
• Experience of working within the context of circular economy.

Relevant Qualifications and Skills

• Candidates should have or be working towards a PhD in a closely related field, e.g., human-computer interaction, software engineering, computer science.
• Excellent verbal communication skills.
• Excellent written communication skills with the demonstrable ability to write clearly, critically and originally for academic publications.
• Ability to organise own time and work, to meet deadlines and manage competing priorities.
• Disposition to travel nationally and internationally for data collection and attending conferences.

More Information

For more information, please contact Prof. Ruzanna Chitchyan at rc17384@bristol.ac.uk.