ASK-JGI – Jean Golding Institute News

Ask-JGI Recruitment Blog

Posted on 23 June 202523 June 2025 by kerry.turcsi

We are recruiting a new team of PhD students for the Ask-JGI helpdesk to work from October 2025 until September 2026!

The Jean Golding Institute (JGI) for data science and AI offers a consultancy service to researchers via its Ask-JGI helpdesk. We offer one day of free support to all staff and doctoral students at the University of Bristol, for queries relating to data science, AI, and software engineering. The helpdesk is run by PhD students and supported by the JGI’s own team of data scientists and research software engineers.

What we’re looking for

New recruits will be part of a team with overlapping and complementary skills, who will work together to support researchers in a range of ways.

It is not expected that you will start with all the skills/experience that we are looking for the team to cover, however you should be enthusiastic about continuous learning and working outside your subject area.

Typical queries (and skills/experience you may want to highlight in your application) include:

Troubleshooting – Collaborating with researchers from different disciplines and of varying expertise, to find out what they need to do to solve their problem.

Study design and planning – Providing statistical advice on experimental design. Identifying potential data hazards and ethical issues.

Data cleaning and management – Helping to develop pipelines to make raw data ready for analysis. Advice on data management plans and data governance.

Data analysis – Recommending or providing support with tools and methods for modelling, AI/machine learning and statistics. This might involve multilevel modelling, bioinformatics, GIS, NLP, random forests, deep learning, use of LLMs, or mixed/qualitative methods.

Programming – Technical support and coding in (primarily) Python or R. But this could include other tools like SQL, MATLAB, SPSS, STATA, NVivo, Excel, C, Rust, Bash scripts etc. Code review and code optimisation. Deployment to HPC.

Best practices – Giving advice on best practices for writing reproducible research code and creating packages. Support with tools like Git, GitHub, virtual environments and Conda, Docker.

Data communication – Help with data visualisation. Providing advice with dashboards or websites.

Applicants will need to be current full-time PhD students at the University of Bristol and will need to obtain approval from their primary supervisor. It is expected that applicants can commit on average 5-10 hours per month for 12 months. The team rotates responsibilities every fortnight and there are periods with a higher/lower volume of queries, so time commitments can vary throughout the year.

Expected start date is the week commencing Monday 29 September 2025, working ad-hoc approximately 5-10 hours per month for 12 months.

What’s in it for you?

You will gain experience/skills which will be useful for your future research or career outside academia:

Technical skills – learning from one another and developing best-practice skills in data science, AI and research software engineering.

Project management – managing and prioritising multiple queries and allocating them to fellow team members.

Team working – chairing team meetings, minute-taking, and collaborating with other team members on queries.

Communication – sharing your expertise with researchers (of all levels) from different disciplines.

Adaptability – developing and applying your skills to new and difficult problems, outside your immediate subject.

This is a paid opportunity at Graduate Teacher – Level 1 for PhD students.

How to apply

Complete an online application form

The deadline to apply is Thursday 31 July 2025. We will assess applications at the start of August and hope to communicate a decision in mid-August.

The JGI aims to make data science, statistics and software engineering expertise accessible to all. We value diversity in our teams and so applicants from communities traditionally under-represented in data science, AI or research software engineering are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you have any questions about the role, email jgi-reseng@bristol.ac.uk with the subject “Ask-JGI recruitment”.

Testimonials from Ask-JGI team members

“Over the past year, I had the pleasure of working with the Ask-JGI team, and it was a truly enjoyable experience. The team was welcoming and supportive, and I had the opportunity to engage with researchers from a wide range of departments across the university, which broadened my perspective on different fields of study and enhanced my personal skills. I highly recommend joining this team!” – Yujie Dai, Digital Health CDT

“What I enjoy most about working at the Ask-JGI helpdesk is the chance to connect with and assist researchers from all kinds of academic backgrounds. I may not always have the immediate answer to queries, but what really counts is doing my best to help and being willing to keep learning along the way.” – Yueying Li, PhD student in Genetic Epidemiology

“Working with the Ask-JGI service has been incredibly rewarding. I genuinely enjoy contributing directly to researchers’ projects, witnessing the tangible impact of our support. The variety of challenges, from diving into complex data analysis to helping visualize findings, keeps every day engaging and fulfilling.” – Fahd Abdelazim, PhD student in Interactive AI, specializing in model understanding for Vision-Language models

“Being part of the Ask-JGI team is an excellent opportunity to improve communication skills over statistics/ data science tasks. As PGR students, most of us are accustomed to working within specialized areas of research, it is easy to overlook efforts and skills necessary for collaborating outside of those narrow fields of expertise. I have benefitted from working on the team to improve those skills.” – Mirah Zhang, PhD student in Geographic Data Science

“Working as an Ask-JGI data scientist has been a hugely rewarding experience. Each query involves supporting researchers from diverse specialisms across the University. It’s a great way to expose yourself to different technical challenges and research areas, and to explore new technologies that you haven’t worked with before.” – Daniel Collins, PhD student in Interactive AI focussed on multi agent AI systems

Ask-JGI Example Queries from Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Posted on 13 June 202513 June 2025 by kerry.turcsi

All University of Bristol researchers (from PhD student and up) are entitled to a day of free data science support from the Ask-JGI helpdesk. Just email ask-jgi@bristol.ac.uk with your query and one of our team will get back to you to see how we can support you. You can see more about how the JGI can support data science projects for University of Bristol based researchers on our website (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/golding/supporting-your-research/data-science-support/).

We support queries from researchers across all faculties and in this blog we’ll tell you about some of the researchers we’ve supported from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences here at the University of Bristol.

AI prediction on video data

Example of AI video prediction using video data taken from the EPIC-KITCHENS-100 study. The image shows qualitative results of action detection. Predictions with confidence > 0.5 are shown with colour-coded class labels.

One particularly interesting query came from a PhD researcher with no prior experience in programming or AI. She was exploring the idea of using AI to predict how long doctors at different skill levels would need to train on medical simulators to reach advanced proficiency. Drawing inspiration from aviation cockpit simulators, her project involved analysing simulation videos to make these predictions. We provided guidance on the feasibility of using AI for this task, suggesting approaches that would depend on the availability of annotated data and introducing her to relevant computer vision techniques. We also recommended Python as a starting point, along with resources to help her build foundational skills. It was exciting to help someone new to AI navigate the early stages of their project and explore how AI could contribute to improving medical training.

Species Classification with ML

*Bemisia tabaci (MED) (silverleaf whitefly); two adults on a watermelon leaf. Image by Stephen Ausmus*.

Another engaging query came from a researcher in biological sciences aiming to classify different species of plant pest insects—Bemisia, tabaci and two others—based on flight data. Her goal was not only to build machine learning classifiers but also to understand how different features contributed to species differentiation across various methods.

She approached the Ask-JGI data science support for guidance on refining her code and ensuring the accuracy of her analysis. We helped restructure the code to make it more modular and reusable, while also addressing bugs and improving its reliability. Additionally, we worked with her to create visualizations that provided clearer insights into model performance and feature importance. This collaboration was a great example of how machine learning can be applied to advancing research in ecological data analysis.

Providing guidance for HPC, RDSF, and statistical software users

High performance computing (HPC) and the Research Data Storage Facility (RDSF) have been used by an increasing number of people at our university. We also recommend them to students and staff when these tools align with their projects’ needs. However, getting started can be challenging—each system has its own frameworks, rules, and workflows. Researchers often find themselves overwhelmed by extensive training materials or stuck on specific technical issues that aren’t easily addressed.

We provide tailored guidance to make these tools more accessible and practical for our clients, which includes troubleshooting, script modifications, and directing researchers to relevant university services.

Additionally, this year’s Ask-JGI Helpdesk has brought together experienced users of SPSS, Stata, R, and Python. For researchers transitioning to new statistical software or adapting their workflows, we’ve helped them navigate the subtle differences in syntax across platforms and achieve their analysis goals.

Handling Group-Level Variability in Quantitative Effects: A Multilevel Modelling Perspective

*A visualisation of a multilevel model, original figure produced by JGI Data Scientist, Dr Leo Gorman.*

We had a client who was researching differences in fluorescence intensity. This may be potentially due to factors such as antibody lot variation, differences in handling between researchers, or biological heterogeneity. This raises the question: How should such data be represented to ensure meaningful interpretation without misrepresenting the underlying biological processes? One of the key solutions that we recommend is to introduce multilevel modelling.

Modelling fluorescence intensity at one or multiple levels (e.g., individual, batch, researcher) can help distinguish biological effects from biases. To be specific, for example, by applying mixed effects, we can account for between-individual variation in baseline fluorescence levels (random intercept), as well as differential responses to experimental conditions (random slope). Sometimes, the application of multilevel modelling also appears to be limited by the group-level sample size. If this is the case, as we discussed with the client, we don’t need to go as extreme as fitting multilevel models. To control for variations with such a small amount of changes, we can use alternative strategies, such as correcting standard errors and introducing dummy variables to achieve similar performance.

Meet the Ask-JGI team – Adrianna, Fahd, Yujie & Huw

Posted on 17 February 202517 February 2025 by kerry.turcsi

The new Ask-JGI helpdesk cohort started in September 2024 and have been busy answering queries from researchers across the university! We introduced half of the team in our January blog. Meet the other half of the team below:

Adrianna Jezierska (she/her) – Ask-JGI PhD Student

Adrianna Jezierska, PhD candidate in in the School of Business

I’m a PhD student at the University of Bristol Business School. My project focuses on social media influencers and their vegan content on YouTube. Using language derived from video transcripts, I analyse to what extent they legitimise veganism so that it becomes popular and desirable in society. Whilst most organisation and management scholars have developed theories based on qualitative data, resulting in small datasets and case study approaches, in my work, I highlight the role of computational social sciences and big data in helping social scientists answer their research questions.

Coming from a social science background, I was initially hesitant about joining the Ask-JGI team. However, this decision has turned out to be the most rewarding and challenging experience. Being part of the team is a continuous learning journey. The questions we receive span various disciplines, often pushing us out of our comfort zones. The most exciting part of the job is the opportunity to communicate with other researchers and receive their positive feedback. On the other hand, we constantly collaborate with other team members and learn from each other, which makes it a very supportive environment. I’m pleased to see more queries from social scientists and humanities researchers. The growing popularity of computational approaches and the shift towards interdisciplinary research is a trend that I find inspiring and exciting

Fahd Abdelazim (he/him) – Ask-JGI PhD Student

Fahd Abdelazim, PhD student on the Interactive AI CDT in the School of Computer Science

I am a PhD student in the Interactive Artificial Intelligence CDT, specializing in model understanding for Vision-Language models. My research focuses on introducing improvements to Vision-Language models that allow for better linking of specific ideas or attributes to physical items, in order to help models recognize and understand the properties of objects in images.

I first heard of the Ask-JGI team through fellow PhD students, and it was recommended to me as a way to apply data science skills to real-world applications. Joining the Ask-JGI helpdesk has been a unique experience where I’ve been able to delve into various domains and learn about topics that I would otherwise not have had the chance to learn about. The team truly values cross-functional collaboration and encourages tackling new challenges and learning on the job.

Working at Ask JGI is incredibly rewarding. I enjoy the diversity of challenges presented by each query which gives me the chance to improve as a data scientist and gain a better understanding of how data science can help improve academic research. I really enjoy the collaborative spirit within the team. The Ask-JGI team are from many different disciplines and interacting with them allows for interesting exchanges of ideas and problem-solving approaches. This allows me to grow not just as a data scientist but as a researcher as well.

Yujie Dai (she/her) – Ask-JGI PhD Student

Yujie Dai, PhD student in the Digital Health and Care CDT

I am a PhD student in the Digital Health and Care CDT, specializing in population health data science. My research focuses on leveraging large-scale real-world health data to address critical challenges in infectious diseases. Specifically, I utilize explainable AI (XAI) techniques to characterize and diagnose diseases, aiming to bridge the gap between data science and public health.

My journey with Ask-JGI began with a recommendation from a friend who was previously part of the team. They spoke highly of the collaborative and dynamic environment, and I was intrigued by the opportunity to apply my skills in real-world research settings. Joining Ask-JGI is an extension of my academic and research pursuits. I was drawn to the idea of supporting researchers across diverse disciplines, helping them navigate technical challenges in their projects, and learning from their different perspectives. The chance to engage with cutting-edge problems and contribute to solutions beyond the scope of my own research was exciting.

There’s so much to love about being part of Ask JGI. I love the variety of work. Each question I encounter presents a new challenge, whether it’s developing a data analysis pipeline, troubleshooting code, or brainstorming creative solutions for a computational problem. The variety keeps me constantly learning and growing as a data scientist. I also love the collaborative atmosphere. Working closely with researchers from different fields gives me diverse ways of thinking and problem-solving. It’s an opportunity to not only apply my skills but also to know more about the scientific community.

Huw Day (he/him) – Ask-JGI Lead

Huw Day, JGI Data Scientist

I am a JGI Data Scientist with a background in mathematics, working on a variety of data science projects with researchers across the university using a variety of data science methodologies and techniques. I also help run the Data Ethics Club.

As Ask-JGI Lead, I am responsible for recruiting, training and the general managing of the Ask-JGI team. They’re a fantastic group and I consider myself really lucky to be able to work with them. I support some of the general queries and I’m also responsible for talking with researchers interested in costing out data science support in grant applications.

To me, the Ask-JGI helpdesk is based on the idea that any researcher who wants to do data science should be empowered to do so. Whilst we often do the data science for people, I think the most rewarding outputs from our helpdesk is when we empower researchers to do data science themselves, guiding and validating their work. It’s also a wonderful opportunity for myself and the rest of the helpdesk to learn about research across the university.

All University of Bristol researchers (including PhDs) are entitled to a day of free data science support from the Ask-JGI helpdesk. Just email ask-jgi@bristol.ac.uk with your query and one of our team will get back to you to see how we can support you.

If you’re a PhD student interested in joining the Ask-JGI team, we will do recruiting for the next academic year in summer of 2025 so keep an eye on the JGI mailing list for when we have our recruiting call. We recruit a new cohort every year but do not accept speculative applications outside of the recruiting call.

Ask JGI Student Experience Profiles: Rachael Laidlaw

Posted on 14 August 202414 August 2024 by kerry.turcsi

Rachael Laidlaw (Ask-JGI Data Science Support 2023-24)

I first came into contact with the Jean Golding Institute last year at The Alan Turing Institute’s annual AI UK conference in London, and then again in the early stages of the DataFace project in collaboration with Cheltenham Science Festival. This meant that before I officially joined the team back in October, I already knew what a lovely group of people I’d be getting involved with! Having nice colleagues, however, was not my only motivation for applying to be an Ask-JGI student. On top of that, I’d decided that whilst starting out in my ecological computer-vision PhD niche, I didn’t want to forget all of the statistical skills that I’d developed back in my MSc degree. Plus, it sounded really fun to keep myself on my toes by exercising my mind tackling a variety of data-oriented requests from across the university’s many departments.

Rachael Laidlaw in centre with two JGI staff members to the left and one JGI staff member to the right pointing towards a Data pin board at the JGI stall — *Rachael Laidlaw (centre)*, second-year PhD student in Interactive Artificial Intelligence, and other JGI staff members at the JGI stall

During the course of my academic life, I’ve taken the plunge of changing disciplines twice, moving from pure mathematics to applied statistics and then again to computer science, and I liked the idea of supporting others to potentially do the same thing as they looked to enhance their work by delving into data. Through Ask-JGI, I kept my weeks interesting by having something other than my own research to sometimes switch my focus to, and it felt very fulfilling to be able to offer useful technical advice to those who were in the same position that I myself had been in not so long ago too! I therefore got stuck in with anything and everything, from training CNNs for rainfall forecasting or performing statistical tests to compare the antibiotic resistance of different bacteria, to modelling the outcomes of university spinouts or advising on the ethical considerations and potential bias present when designing and deploying a questionnaire-based study. And, of course, by exposing myself to these problems (alongside additional outreach initiatives and showcase events), I also learned a lot along the way, both from my own exploration and from the rest of the team’s insights.

One especially exciting query revolved around automating the process of identifying from images which particular underground printing presses had been used to produce various historical political pamphlets, based on imperfections in the script. This piqued my interest immediately as it drew parallels with my PhD project, highlighting the copious amount of uses of computer vision and how it can save us time by speeding up traditionally manual processes: from the monitoring of animal biodiversity to carrying out detective work on old written records.

All in all, this year has broadened my horizons by giving me great consultancy-style work experience through the opportunity to share my expertise and help a wide range of researchers. I would absolutely encourage other curious PhD students to apply and see what they can both give to and gain from the role!

Ask JGI Student Experience Profiles: Mike Nsubuga

Posted on 5 August 20247 August 2024 by kerry.turcsi

Mike Nsubuga (Ask-JGI Data Science Support 2023-24)

Embarking on a New Path

In the early days at Bristol, even before I began my PhD, I stumbled upon something extraordinary. AskJGI, a university initiative that provides data science support to researchers from all disciplines, caught my attention through a recruitment advert circulated by my PhD supervisor for support data scientists.

My journey started with hesitation. As a brand-new PhD student, who had just relocated to the UK, I questioned whether I was ready or suitable for such a role. Despite my reservations, my supervisor saw potential in me and encouraged me to seize this opportunity. Yielding to their encouragement, I applied, not fully realizing then how this decision would profoundly shape both my academic and professional paths.

A World of Opportunities

Joining AskJGI opened a door to a dynamic world brimming with ideas and innovations. My background in bioinformatics and computational biology meant that working on biomedical queries was particularly rewarding. These projects varied from analyzing protein expression data to studying infectious diseases, allowing me to use data science in meaningful ways.

Among the initiatives I was involved in was developing models to predict protein production efficiency in cells from their genetic sequences. Our goal was clear yet impactful: to identify patterns in genetic sequences that indicate protein production efficiency. We employed advanced data analysis and machine learning techniques to achieve effective predictions.

Additionally, I contributed to a project analyzing the severity of dengue infections by using statistical models to identify key biological markers. We pinpointed certain markers as critical for distinguishing between mild and severe cases of the infection.

These projects showcased the transformative power of data science in understanding and potentially managing diseases, directly impacting public health strategies.

Making Science Accessible: Community Engagement at City Hall

A highlight of my tenure with AskJGI was participating in Data Science Week at bustling Bristol City Hall. The event was not merely a showcase of data science but an opportunity to demystify complex concepts for the public. Engaging in lively discussions and simplifying intricate algorithms for curious visitors was incredibly fulfilling, especially seeing their excitement as they understood the concepts that are often discussed in our professional circles.

Audience sitting in City Hall. Some audience members are raising there hand. There is a projector and a speaker at the front of the hall — AI and the Future of Society event as part of Bristol Data Week 2024

Fostering Connections and Gaining Insights

AskJGI enhanced my technical skills and broadened my understanding of the academic landscape at the University of Bristol. The connections I forged were invaluable, sparking collaborations that would have been unthinkable in the more isolated environment of my earlier academic career. Reflecting on my transformative journey with AskJGI, I am convinced more than ever of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and the critical role of data science in tackling complex challenges. I encourage any researcher at the University of Bristol who is uncertain about their next step to explore what AskJGI has to offer. For PhD students looking to get involved, it represents not just a learning opportunity but a chance to make a significant societal impact.

24/25 Ask-JGI Application