Research Fellow in Machine Cognition Full-time

Research Fellow in Machine Cognition

An opportunity has arisen for a Research Fellow in Machine Cognition in UCL Linguistics, within the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences and Faculty of Brain Sciences. UCL is ranked eighth in the QS World University Rankings; the Division is ranked fifth globally for psychology in QS 2026, and UCL is first in the UK for research power in psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience in REF 2021. The postholder will join Mario Giulianelli's research group, which studies information processing in human and artificial systems. A core part of the group's work also concerns the evaluation, interpretability and cognitive modelling of language models. The group is part of the UCL ELLIS Unit and has links to the UCL AI Centre and UCL Computer Science.

The postholder will carry out original research on machine cognition, focusing on how language model agents and related artificial neural network systems represent beliefs and goals. The project will investigate whether such systems represent uncertainty over environment states and preferences over possible states, and whether these representations can be reliably extracted, evaluated and manipulated. The role combines interpretability methods, behavioural evaluation, probabilistic modelling and ideas from cognitive science, neuroscience and theories of learning. The broader aim is to develop methods that support high-confidence claims about the goals pursued and beliefs held by artificial agents. Dedicated resources are available for travel, equipment, compute and API access.

• This is a 24-month contract with a target start-date of 1st October 2026.
• The salary range for this post is £45,103 – £51,246 per annum (inclusive of London Allowance).
• Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD. If this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B (salary £39,148 – £41,833 per annum, inclusive of London Allowance) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis. To be considered eligible for this post, applicants must have formally submitted their PhD thesis and must either have successfully completed their viva examination or have an agreed viva date scheduled within 3 months of the post's commencement date.
• This role meets the eligibility requirements for a skilled worker certificate of sponsorship or a global talent visa under UK Visas and Immigration legislation. Therefore, UCL welcomes applications from international applicants who require a visa.
• This role is eligible for hybrid working. The successful applicant may normally work remotely for up to 3 days per week if they wish.
• We will consider applications to work on a part-time, flexible and job share basis wherever possible.
• This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Research and Professional Services Staff. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/conditions-service-research-teaching-and-professional-services-staff for more information.
• The UCL Ways of Working supports colleagues to be successful and happy at UCL through sharing expectations around how we work – please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/policies-advice/ways-working to find out more.

We seek a candidate with a PhD, or equivalent experience, in computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, neuroscience, computer science, psychology or a related field. They should have strong Python skills, experience with transformer language models, knowledge of interpretability methods and experience with probabilistic or computational modelling. Experience with language model evaluation, cognitive modelling, reinforcement learning, goal-directed behaviour, learning theory or large-scale GPU/cluster workflows would be advantageous.

Further Details

The advert will close on 26 July 2026 at 23:59 GMT. In the event we get a high number of applications, we may close the advert early before the published closing date. As a minimum, we will keep all adverts open for 2 weeks. Early application submission is recommended.

Please upload your CV and a cover letter of no more than two pages. In your cover letter, please describe why you are interested in this role, how you meet the person specification, your relevant skills and experience, and which aspects of the project you would be particularly keen to work on, including any experiments you might like to run. You may refer to your own relevant work or to other work that has shaped your interests. Please upload the cover letter either in the “Questionnaire” section or using the “Other attachment” upload box. You may also upload up to two relevant publications, such as conference papers, journal articles, or blog posts, that you have worked on and that are relevant to the role.

If you have any queries about this role, please contact m.giulianelli@ucl.ac.uk.

If you need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online or have any queries about the application process, please contact pals.hr@ucl.ac.uk.

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality.

You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/