Senior Research Associate: Protecting Ordinary People from Deepfakes

The Project is funded by the UKRI ESRC as part of Dr Nightingale's Future Leaders Fellowship for which we are hiring a research team to work on mapping and mitigating the threats to ordinary people from deepfake technology. As part of this research team, we are seeking a Senior Research Associate to lead a range of empirical studies that address key questions central to the Project. The research is expected to involve drawing on psychological and neuropsychological theories (e.g., visual and voice perception, multi-modal perceptual processing) to design and conduct a body of work to better understand human perception of multimedia content. The successful applicant will be expected to apply novel findings to develop new approaches and tools for detecting deepfake content, as well as having a good appreciation of the wider implications of the work (e.g., implications for policy and project partners). In addition to a broad understanding of human perception of deepfake content, the Project will focus on the development of tools to mitigate the harms of non-consensual intimate imagery and you will be expected to feed into this workstream, in particular, advising based on the psychological experimental studies on how to improve the system being developed within the wider research team. The Project is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary in nature, providing an excellent opportunity for an ambitious early-career scientist to establish a strong research network and carve a path to full independence. You will be responsible for the development and day-to-day management of the Project, from coordinating the design and set up of studies through to dissemination and impact activities. As such, the successful candidate will be expected to have excellent knowledge and experience of leading experimental work, as well as competence in handling sensitive and confidential data. Given the speed of technical innovation in the deepfake space, the Senior Research Associate must be able to take an evaluative, critical, and dynamic approach and evolve according to new and emerging trends. You must be willing to travel within the UK and overseas to work with collaborating institutions and to attend events (e.g., national and international conferences) as required by the Project. You will work closely with other team members, including offering supervision and training as required.

We are looking for someone with training and experience in cognitive and/or neurocognitive psychology (or other subject area with direct relevance for the Project) with a strong grounding in quantitative experimental methods and analyses. Expertise in cybercrime research and experience with deepfake technology is desirable, but not essential. The successful applicant will work within a research team where their primary responsibilities are to review the relevant literature, design research projects, collect and analyse data, develop tools, and write and disseminate research outputs., The successful candidate will:

• Have experience of designing experimental studies and conducting quantitative data analysis
• Have experience of data collection (both in-person and online testing) and data management
• Be an excellent team player
• Have experience of mentoring other researchers
• Have excellent communication and organization skills
  
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• Generous holiday leave - 25 days (pro-rata) annual leave plus University closure days and bank holidays.
• Access to employee pension scheme, and annual flexible benefits scheme.
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The Psychology Department is a busy teaching and research active Department. It is home to a friendly group of around 40 Academic staff, with teams of Research and Professional Services and Technical staff. The Department supports a large cohort of Undergraduate students; a thriving group of Masters and Postgraduate research students; and a wide range of research projects including several cross-institution grants.