Vacancies

Join us and be part of an inclusive, vibrant community of research and innovation.

Current vacancies

We welcome applications from final-year undergraduates and Master’s students for paid research internships (that are not part of the degree course requirement).

Our research focuses on the mathematical principles of adaptive intelligent behaviour. We study (un)supervised and reinforcement learning; inference, coding and neural dynamics; Bayesian and kernel methods, and deep learning; with applications to the analysis of perceptual processing and cognition, neural data, signal and image processing, machine vision, network data and nonparametric hypothesis testing.

During the internship (which will typically last for 2-3 months), you will work on a research project under the supervision of experienced researchers. You will develop and apply your research skills, gain hands-on research experience, and connect with researchers at the unit and beyond. At the end of the thesis project / internship, you will write a report and present your work to the whole unit.

We particularly encourage applications from groups that are under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields and/or who have experienced some form of educational disadvantage.

Applications are reviewed four times per year in January, April, July, and October. You are advised to apply well in advance of the planned start date, as the review process may take up to 8 weeks (e.g., if you plan to intern in summer, you may wish to submit your application by the January deadline).

Next review round: July. Please ensure your application (including the reference letters) reach us by Sunday, 16 July 2023 for consideration.

Be in your final undergraduate year or a Master’s student.
Be enrolled in a relevant subject such as computer science, physics, engineering, statistics, mathematics, neuroscience, or cognitive psychology.
Have a strong mathematical and analytical background and a keen interest in theoretical neuroscience, machine learning or both.
Have proven/potential academic excellence.
Have a good command of the English language.
Be available for the entire duration of the thesis project/internship.

Please send I-Chun Lin i.lin@ucl.ac.uk the following documents in a single PDF file (with naming convention: Forename_Surname.pdf)

CV (2-page limit), including (a) the schools you have attended, (b) your A-level (or equivalent) results, (c) your undergraduate (and Master's, if applicable) results so far, (d) prizes or awards for your academic work at school/university, including scholarships, (e) any extracurricular activity, experience or skill you feel is relevant to the application, and (f) information of two academic referees, including the name, affiliation and job title, who can and have agreed to comment on your academic ability, the quality of your work and your potential for further study and research.
Transcript(s), containing the grades you have received so far for your undergraduate degree (and Master's degree if applicable).
A brief description of your research interests and academic background, explaining how it fits with the Gatsby Unit (up to 300 words). Please indicate the faculty member(s) you would like to work with.
(Optional) A statement on any financial, regional, societal or personal factors that may have constrained your academic potential (up to 200 words).

In your email, please also specify when you would like to start and for how long.

Please arrange for your references to be sent directly to I-Chun by your two academic referees using their professional email address (i.e., we will not request the references on your behalf). It is your responsibility to follow up with your referees to ensure the references arrive by the deadline.

We may also be able to accommodate non-UCL students who wish to carry out their MSc (or similar) academic research projects with us. Applications to do so should be submitted following the same procedure for project research internships as stated above, giving details of your institution and academic programme as well as any constraints or regulations relevant to the research, and specifying that you are applying to carry out a MSc (or similar) research project in your email to I-Chun. Please note that such academic research visits are separate from our paid internships, and we expect any financial support or remuneration to ordinarily be arranged through your home institution. MSc and other project students at UCL may make enquiries in line with their usual course schedules.

Updated 2023-05-26

Why join us?

The Gatsby Unit has been at the forefront of theoretical neuroscience and machine learning since its establishment in 1998. We maintain a singular and cohesive research culture, emphasising interaction and collaboration both within the unit and beyond. The unit’s research benefits from tight links to the exceptional scientific communities at UCL in neuroscience and machine learning and AI, with particularly close collaborations with world-class researchers in the SWC and the UCL ELLIS Unit. We are located in the heart of London, sharing a purpose-designed building with the SWC a few blocks away from the UCL campus.

We have an exciting programme of scientific and social events, including an external seminar series and topical workshops, journal clubs, research talks and regular tea hour socials (jointly with SWC on Fridays).

We support flexible working and are committed to make the unit as inclusive and diverse as possible. Our staff are entitled to UCL's full range of benefits and development opportunities.

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