Research Assistant

Job number

PRO01310

Faculties

Provost's Team

Departments

Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship

Salary or Salary range

£43,863 per annum

Location/campus

South Kensington Campus - Hybrid

Contract type work pattern

Full time - Fixed term

Posting End Date

9 Nov 2025

About the role

Do you have expertise in software development and machine learning, with a passion for working on cutting-edge Large Language Models (LLMs)? We are seeking a Research Assistant to join an innovative project Transforming Feedback Consistency and Usefulness with LLMs, based in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. You will play a central role in developing an LLM-powered tool that enhances the clarity, consistency, and actionability of feedback provided to students across Imperial.

What you would be doing

As part of this project, you will:

• Lead the technical development and fine-tuning of an LLM-based system for educational feedback.
• Build robust NLP pipelines for data preprocessing, tokenisation, and analysis.
• Develop and deploy APIs to integrate the tool with existing platforms such as Canvas, Blackboard, Wiseflow, or Turnitin.
• Optimise model performance for clarity, tone, and alignment with rubrics and learning outcomes.
• Collaborate with colleagues in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS) to pilot and evaluate the tool.
• Contribute to dissemination activities, including publications and conference presentations.

What we are looking for

You will bring:

• A postgraduate degree (MSc/PhD) in Software Development, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related field.
• Strong background in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP).
• Hands-on experience in training and fine-tuning LLMs using frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Hugging Face Transformers.
• Advanced Python programming skills and good software engineering practices (modularity, testing, scalability).
• Familiarity with data preparation pipelines for text data (cleaning, tokenisation, embeddings).
• Experience deploying ML models in cloud/GPU environments (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Colab Pro, HPC).
• Strong analytical, debugging, and problem-solving skills.

Desirable skills include:

• Knowledge of MLOps tools (Docker, CI/CD, version control with Git).
• Awareness of responsible/ethical AI practices (bias mitigation, fairness, explainability).
• Experience with data visualisation and open-source contributions.

What we can offer you

• The opportunity to lead development on a pioneering AI-in-education project with potential for College-wide impact.
• Access to compute resources, mentoring, and collaboration with experts in AI and pedagogy.
• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
• Grow your career: gain access to Imperial's sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression.
• Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
• Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing.

Further information

This role is for a fixed-term contract for 12 months.

If you require any further details about the role, please contact: Dr Zohaib Akhtar ).

Available documents

Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.

We reserve the right to close the advert prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

If you encounter any technical issues while applying online, please don't hesitate to email us at We're here to help.

About Imperial

Welcome to Imperial, a global top ten university where scientific imagination leads to world-changing impact.

Join us and be part of something bigger. From global health to climate change, AI to business leadership, here at Imperial we navigate some of the world's toughest challenges. Whatever your role, your contribution will have a lasting impact.

As a member of our vibrant community of 22,000 students and 8,000 staff, you'll collaborate with passionate minds across nine London campuses and a global network.

This is your chance to help shape the future. We hope you'll join us at Imperial College London.

Our Culture

We work towards equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination, and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities. You can read more about our commitment on our webpages.

Our values are at the root of everything we do and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate respect, collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation.

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