We are seeking a highly motivated Research Assistant/Associate to join EPSRC and industry-funded Digital Roads (DR) Prosperity Partnership at the University of Cambridge. This programme is a collaboration between industry and academia, now in the final 24 months of a 60-month effort.
The programme integrates research and innovation across both physical and digital technologies, to deliver a cyber-physical platform for the autonomous inspection, digital representation, and maintenance of highways.
The successful candidate joins a vibrant research and development team, collaborating closely with our industry partners; Costain, National Highways, DfT and our spin-out, Didimi, and domain experts to contribute to the development of a scalable, interoperable, and secure digital product for the nation's roads.
The post holder will be located in West Cambridge, UK.
Key Responsibilities:
- Create proposals for standards, covering Digital Twin (DT) communication protocols for interfacing with different types of systems and data sources.
- Using the DR research to create guidelines for the development of the ontological structure for the DT.
- Development of DT information modelling, data fusion, and forecasting guidelines and standards, and technology maturity benchmarks to derive cloud platform maturity level standards.
- Lead on the development of business models, financial analyses, and market adoption strategies for DT-based highway management solutions. An NDA protecting the commercially sensitive information of our industry partners will be required. Commercially sensitive research findings relating to our partners will not be published.
- Collaborate with researchers to compile inspection and repair standards.
- Develop similar business models to support commercialisation of a simulated autonomous road maintenance vehicle.
- Study CAV interfaces and propose and design a standard API for the cloud-based platform.
Key Competencies:
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment.
- Excellent communication skills, engaging with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to manage iterative feedback cycles and refine deliverables accordingly.
The skills, qualifications and experience required to perform the role are:
- A PhD in Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
- Familiarity with Digital Twin technologies, business modelling, and standardisation.
- Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to engage with industry partners and facilitate discussions.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills for producing reports and collaborating with industry partners.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.
Salary Ranges: Research Assistant: £32,546 - £35,116 Research Associate: £37,174 - £45,413
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 12 months in the first instance.
Closing Date for Applications: 31 July 2025