Associate Professor in Future Communication Systems

School of Computing and Digital Technology

Location: City Centre Campus (Millennium Point)
Salary: £56,756 to £61,690 per annum
Permanent
Posted On: Thursday 08 September 2022
Closing Date: Friday 23 September 2022
Reference: 092022-543

Located in a modern £300M campus in the heart of Birmingham, the School of Computing and Digital Technology is a thriving, vibrant, and inspiring learning community committed to excellence in research, high quality teaching and impactful industrial engagement. Building on continuous success in student growth and in sustained advancement of research activities, the school has embarked on a programme of extensive expansion funded by substantial long-term investments. This has led to state-of-the-art facilities for students, staff and researchers, the latest of which is the £60M STEAM house, the new home for our Department of Networks and Cyber Security (NCS) and Cyber Physical Systems Research Group (CPSRG).

An Associate Professor in Future Communications Systems position is available to work in the Department of NCS and CPSRG within the School of Computing and Digital Technology. The role is expected to provide research and academic leadership in one or more areas of the following: Open-Radio Access Networks, MIMO antenna systems, Cell-free cellular architecture, physical-layer security, machine-learning techniques for wireless and wired systems, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, low power communications and mobility management. In addition to core expertise in communications, we welcome candidates with strong interest in cross-disciplinary research in healthcare, smart city, transportation networks, or industrial manufacturing, with communications elements.

Applicants must be qualified to a PhD level and have evidence of track record of research leadership and extensive research experience in their own technical areas. In addition, applicants will need to be able to demonstrate their ability to critically engage with a range of complex systems; engage in conceptual thinking and brain storming activities; meet deadlines and lead and work within interdisciplinary teams of researchers and academics.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The main duties and responsibilities follow the standard expectation of an Associate Professor role in the university.

Specific for this position, the role holder will focus on the following activities:

• Use appropriate learning, teaching, support, and assessment methods.
• Adapting and developing teaching materials around future communications systems for BSc and MSc levels.
• Teaching as a member of the Department of Networks and Cybersecurity in a variety of settings from small group tutorials to large lectures.
• Ensure that module design and delivery comply with quality standards and regulations of the University.
• Supervise undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral research projects (as appropriate).
• Engage in scholarship as required to support teaching activities and continually update knowledge.
• Lead research work, design and development within the broad areas of communications systems
• Plan and lead writing bids for research funding
• Lead and develop new research facilities and/or capabilities, to complement those in existing laboratories and enable analysis, modelling, design and testing in their field of research
• Lead and participate in research collaborations activities both within and external to the university
• Plan, organize and participate in project workshops, seminars, dissemination and outreach events
• Coordinate the delivery of high-quality reports for funding bodies
• Contribute in a leadership capacity to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Supervision of the PhD positions provided to support the candidate’s research
• Any other duties appropriate to the position as directed by the line manager

SKILLS AND EXPIENCE

Essential:

• Hold a PhD in Telecommunications, Networking or a related technical subject.
• Have a strong record of leading research teams, groups and conducting research supervision
• A firm grounding in wireless and wired communications (including computer networks, machine learning or optimisation)
• A proven record of attracting and securing research funding and partnering across your area of practice.
• Excellent publication record in peer-reviewed journals or conferences, demonstrating recognized authority in the relevant discipline
• Applicants should have a proven record of excellent teaching in higher education or have presented regularly to technical audiences.
• Track record of successful networking and community management

Desirable:

• Experience in advanced technologies such as Open-RAN, MIMO, mmWave and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Networked Functions Virtualisation (NFV)
• Knowledge of 5G, network management principles and network slicing
• The ambition and ability to learn rapidly and to adapt to new areas of research beyond your current skills and expertise
• Prior working experience in a leadership capacity within externally funded research projects
• Relevant industrial experience
• Established relationships with UK and International collaborations
• Ability to communicate projects/concepts to a range of audiences
• Interest in complementary disciplines to future communication systems.

Further details:
Job Description - Associate Professor
Core Values

BCU Values underpin how we work in achieving the ambitions set out in our Strategy and Priorities, and are the principles that unite the way we work together and for our students.

The University is committed to internationalism and diversity and welcomes applications from all countries, faiths and backgrounds.

It is each individual successful applicants responsibility to ensure that they have permission to work in the UK. Some applicants may require sponsorship from the University and a visa from UKVI to take up the role if successful. More information on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa

Some roles are not capable of sponsorship because they do not meet the UKVI criteria relating to skill and salary level. If you are unsure as to whether you would require sponsorship if successful, or whether the role is capable of sponsorship, please contact us: RTinbox@bcu.ac.uk

Please note on occasions where we receive a large number of applications, we may close the advert ahead of the publicised closing date. If this does happen, we will contact all candidates via email who have started but not yet completed their application, giving 48 hours’ notice. We would therefore advise that you submit your completed application as soon as possible.

At Birmingham City University we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. All staff are expected to understand and enact the University’s commitment to ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in our employment practice and in all that we do . This commitment is enshrined in our Core Values and is detailed in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Employment Policy. The University values and celebrates the diversity of our staff and students; we welcome people from the many different backgrounds and life experiences that reflect the students and the citizens we serve. We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and actively encourage unique contributions, in particular from under-represented groups in respect of age, disability, sex, gender or gender identity, ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status

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