Postdoctoral Researcher (Adjunct Appointment)

Position Title: Postdoc Researcher (Adjunct Appointment)

Project title: AI Pathologist for Diverse Medical Diagnosis

Position Type: Adjunct Appointment- Contract duration 8 months (can be extended to two year contract)

Start Date: Ideally by Mid-August 2026

Heriot-Watt University (HWU) has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business, and languages.

With a history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and practical, leading-edge research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry. We connect with industry at every level and develop programmes to match their needs – so employers get work-ready industry-fit graduates.

Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.

We have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities.

The School of Engineering & Physical Sciences (EPS) is a community of over 340 staff and around 3,000 students across three campuses in Scotland, Dubai and Malaysia. The School is recognised as an international leader in education, research and the application of knowledge to benefit society globally. We are striving to establish ourselves as partners of choice for world leading institutions, consistently delivering an environmentally and financially sustainable growth by aligning to the opportunities and requirements of our modern times to address local and global needs.

Heriot-Watt holds an Institutional Athena Swan Bronze Award, as does the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, recognising excellence in championing employment of women in the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds.

Heriot-Watt University established a campus in Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) in 2005 and moved in 2020 to a state of the art, digitally enabled campus within Dubai Knowledge Park. The Dubai campus now has nearly 4500 students. The School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) in Heriot-Watt University Dubai offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in Automotive, Chemical, Mechanical, Energy, Renewable Energy, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Robotics, Autonomous and Interactive Systems, and Global Sustainability Engineering. 

Project Overview

The AI Pathologist project is an interdisciplinary initiative aimed at developing an advanced AI-driven diagnostic system using 3D medical imaging modalities (CT, MRI, PET) and explainable AI (XAI) techniques to support medical professionals in improving diagnostic accuracy, reducing workload, and enhancing patient outcomes. The Postdoc Researcher will play a key role in implementing system prototypes, managing data pipelines, and supporting the development and validation of AI models in collaboration with clinicians and engineers.

Key Responsibilities

1. AI Model Development & Testing

• Assist in developing machine learning and deep learning models for medical imaging analysis.
• Implement and fine-tune models using PyTorch, TensorFlow, or related frameworks.
• Run experiments, perform hyperparameter tuning, and maintain organized experiment logs.

2. Medical Imaging Data Management

• Support data preprocessing, annotation preparation, and dataset organization.
• Handle CT, MRI, PET, and histopathology images, ensuring proper anonymization and compliance with ethical guidelines.
• Collaborate with clinicians to understand imaging structures and diagnostic targets.

3. Explainable AI Implementation

• Integrate XAI methods (e.g., Grad-CAM, Guided Backprop, SHAP) into the system.
• Generate and interpret visual explanations for model outputs.

4. System Prototyping & Software Development

• Contribute to the development of the AI Pathologist prototype, including UI/UX, backend integration, and workflow automation.
• Support deployment of models using Docker, APIs, or cloud environments.

5. Documentation & Reporting

• Prepare technical documentation, coding standards, and user guides.
• Assist in preparing project reports, research papers, and meeting presentations.

6. Collaboration

• Work closely with radiologists, pathologists, and clinicians to understand requirements and validate outputs.
• Attend project meetings and provide weekly progress updates.

Minimum Requirements (Essential)

Education

• Master degree or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field.

Technical Skills

• Experience with Python and machine learning libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn).
• Understanding of deep learning, CNNs, Capsule Networks, and image processing fundamentals.
• Basic knowledge of handling medical images (e.g., DICOM).
• Familiarity with version control (Git/GitHub).

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Good communication and teamwork ability.
• Ability to document work clearly and follow research procedures.

Preferred Requirements (Highly Desirable)

Technical Skills

• Experience with:
  • 3D imaging models (3D CNNs, UNet variants, VNet)
  • Explainable AI tools (Grad-CAM, LIME, SHAP)
  • Medical imaging workflows, PACS systems
  • Docker, APIs, and model deployment
  • Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Experience working on healthcare-related AI projects.

Clinical Collaboration

• Previous collaboration with hospitals or medical researchers.
• Understanding of radiology/pathology imaging interpretation.

Other Advantages

• Publications or strong project portfolio in computer vision/medical AI.
• Experience with data annotation tools.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity and data governance in healthcare.

Heriot-Watt University Dubai is CAA Licensed; therefore, successful candidates will need to provide terminal degrees attested from a UAE institution accredited by CAA. Degrees which are not from a UAE Institution will need to have MoE equivalency. The successful candidate is responsible for getting their degree attestations done.