Research Associate in Animal Health Epidemiology, Surveillance and Big Data

Research Associate in Animal Health Epidemiology, Surveillance and Big Data

Inverness

Fixed Term (3 years)

Full Time (35 hrs per week)

£37,504 - £43,426 per annum

Reference: ANF/VAS/016/25

Closing date for applications: 19 November 2025

About The Team:

We are seeking an enthusiastic Post-Doctoral Student (or equivalent) to both lead and assist with the continued development of a novel Scottish animal health information system.

The Opportunity:

The goal of the system is to produce fit for purpose information to help farmers, veterinarians, and others to better manage livestock diseases. The system is stakeholder centric, in that the information produced is defined by stakeholders to meet their needs for decision making about livestock disease management. This is a fixed term appointment for 3 years. Information is created by integrating existing data sets, analysing them with a variety of methods including Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI approaches. The successful application will build on a strong foundation of tools, databases, software and relationships that have already been developed by the research team.

Your role will be both as a leader and as a team player in the following activities:

• working with stakeholders to identify information needs
• evaluating, processing, and linking data
• analysing and visualizing data to create information products and apps to meet stakeholder needs
• managing existing and new projects.

You will be expected to work independently and in diverse teams. You will be mentored by the principal investigator and a support network including experts in epidemiology, statistics, AI including LLMs and social sciences. This project is an excellent opportunity for a motivated young researcher to learn and gain extensive experience in applied epidemiology, animal health surveillance, syndromic surveillance, time series analysis/modelling, event detection algorithms, AI, LLMs and social sciences.

Qualifications and experience required:

Essential

• A PhD degree in epidemiology, residency in the European College of Veterinary Public Health, or a master’s degree in computer science, or statistics.
• An undergraduate degree in veterinary medicine, animal science, or other field such as biology or ecology with demonstrated experience in livestock production systems.
• Ability to work both independently and in teams.
• Willingness to learn new skills as required for the project.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and English language skills
• Willingness to work with people from different backgrounds including farmers, practicing veterinarians, livestock industry representatives, government disease control veterinarians and others.

Desirable

• Experience working with large datasets, including data evaluation, data processing, and linking or integrating highly variable data from different sources.
• Experience analysing and visualizing large datasets for different purposes including to meet the information needs of different stakeholders and stakeholder groups
• Experience with R or similar software (e.g. Python)
• Knowledge of database design and maintenance.

Eligibility for Sponsorship:

This role may meet the eligibility for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route depending on individual circumstances. For non-UK nationals please check your eligibility prior to applying for the role.

Admin ref: ANF/VAS/016/25

Why work for SRUC?

• Generous annual leave
• Enhanced pension contributions (5% employee and 10% employer)
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted RAC Membership
• Generous family leave
• Flexible working patterns
• Hybrid working solutions (in some areas)
• Tailored investment in and individuals' learning and development

How to Apply:

Please complete an online application form by pressing “apply”. Please read the Job Particulars document for full details of the requirements for this role.

SRUC Leading the way in Agricultural and Rural Research, Education & Consultancy. SRUC is committed to valuing Diversity, advancing Equality and respecting Human Rights throughout the organisation and encouraging applications from disabled people using the “Disability Confident Employer” symbol. SRUC is a member of the Athena SWAN charter. SRUC. A Charitable company limited by guarantee, SC003712. Registered in Scotland No SC103046