van der Schaar Lab

2022 work placement (6-8 months)

The University of Cambridge’s prestigious van der Schaar Lab is looking for a talented, passionate writer to help creatively communicate its cutting-edge research over the course of a paid work placement lasting between 6 and 8 months.

We are mainly interested in hearing from school leavers based in the U.K. who are looking for work experience before entering university.

About us

We are a world-leading research group developing AI and machine learning technologies with the aim of driving a revolution in healthcare. We seek out, and develop solutions to, some of the most impactful and challenging problems in healthcare.

To give just a handful of examples:
– How can we detect diseases as early as possible?
– What is the best way to match organs and donors?
– How can we develop new vaccines more quickly, safely, and efficiently?
– How can we make sure that AI models provide useful recommendations to doctors?
– How can we better understand and explain the “black box” predictions of AI models?

If these questions seem interesting to you, keep reading!

About the role

Our lab is recognised as one of the most visible and successful groups in the global research community, but we need help explaining our ideas and research breakthroughs—and why they are so important—to non-expert audiences such as doctors.

This placement will offer you the rare opportunity to discuss some of the most important issues facing healthcare with the world’s most prominent and creative thinkers in AI and machine learning. You will then need to flex your creative muscles and think of the best way to distil and convey the content of these discussions in a coherent, relatable way.

More specifically, we will be relying on you to create short, easy-to-read, write-ups (primarily for the lab’s website) covering some of the lab’s research areas and any particularly notable new developments or achievements. We would also hand over the reins of our social media accounts (Twitter and LinkedIn) for you to share your work with the world at large.

This is an ideal experience-building role for anyone considering a future career in PR/communications, journalism, or technical writing. While a passion for maths, computer science, engineering, AI, or related fields would be very welcome, a high level of familiarity is not necessary. What is important is your ability to take complex concepts and explain them in a compelling, creative way.

Details

Duration: between 6 and 8 months (though other arrangements can be discussed).
Location: remote (but of course you would be welcome to meet our lab in Cambridge!)
Hours: full-time (Monday-Friday)
Pay: this is a paid role; for specifics, please contact us via the form below.

Interested? Let us know!



Please let us know why you’re interested in this placement, and feel free to link to any previous examples of writing you may be able to share! We would also like to know when you would expect to begin and complete this placement.