Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Statistical Machine Learning

• The School of Mathematics and Physics

• Full-time (100%), fixed-term position for up to 2 years

• Base salary will be in the range of $78,871.35 - $105,004.02+ 17% Superannuation (Academic Level A)

• Based at our St Lucia location

About This Opportunity 

This is an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Statistical Machine Learning to advance their expertise and build an emerging research profile within this field. In this role, you will contribute to impactful research, collaborating on joint projects and seeking competitive funding to support innovative studies. As part of our team, you’ll be involved in knowledge transfer and commercialisation initiatives, helping translate research into real-world applications.

This project is on semi-supervised learning, which takes advantage of unclassified data to build classification rules where, typically, there are little labelled data but plentiful unlabelled data. The focus is on a very novel approach to semi-supervised learning that has been developed in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland. It adopts a missingness mechanism for the missing labels to build a rule with accuracy that can in many practical situations have greater accuracy than if the missing labels were known. Hence this approach is of paramount importance to applications where it is expensive or impractical to obtain labelled data and the unclassified data are not plentiful.

Key responsibilities will include: 

• Produces quality research outputs consistent with discipline norms by publishing or exhibiting in high quality outlets.

• Participate in applications for competitive research funding to support projects and activities.

• Work with colleagues in the development of joint research projects and applications for competitive research funding support.

• Contribute to progressing towards transfer of knowledge, technology and practices to research end users through translation, including commercialisation of UQ intellectual property.

• Develop a coherent research program and an emerging research profile.

• Review and draw upon best practice research methodologies.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance.

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.

At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. UQ has made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.

As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad:  from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options and flexible start/finish times, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You 

• Completion or near completion of a PhD in the discipline area.

• An emerging profile in research in the discipline area.

• Evidence of publications in reputed refereed journals and presenting at conferences.

• Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding.

• Some experience in meaningful internal service roles and contributions towards external activities.

The successful candidate may be required to complete a number of pre-employment checks, including: right to work in Australia and education check. 

Work Rights: You must maintain unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment.

Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Professor Geoffrey McLachlan via g.mclachlan@uq.edu.au.  

For application queries, please contact talent@uq.edu.au stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.
 

Want to Apply? 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Resume

• Cover letter addressing the ‘About You’ section

Other Information 

UQ is committed to a fair, equitable and inclusive selection process, which recognises that some applicants may face additional barriers and challenges which have impacted and/or continue to impact their career trajectory. Candidates who don’t meet all criteria are encouraged to apply and demonstrate their potential. The selection panel considers both potential and performance relative to opportunities when assessing suitability for the role.

We know one of our strengths as an institution lies in our diverse colleagues. We're dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion, fostering an environment that mirrors our wider community. We're committed to attracting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent. Reach out to talent@uq.edu.au for accessibility support or adjustments.

Applications close 21 November 2024 at 11.00pm AEST (R-44476).