Excited to see you at CVPR! We’ll be at booth 1404. Come see us to talk more about roles.

Our team consists of people with diverse software and academic experiences. We work together towards one common goal: integrating the software, you'll help us build into hundreds of millions of vehicles.

As the MLE, you will collaborate with researchers to perform research operations using existing infrastructure. You will use your judgment in complex scenarios and help apply standard techniques to various technical problems. Specifically, you will:

• Characterize neural network quality, failure modes, and edge cases based on research data
• Maintain awareness of current trends in relevant areas of research and technology
• Coordinate with researchers and accurately convey the status of experiments
• Manage a large number of concurrent experiments and make accurate time estimates for deadlines
• Review experimental results and suggest theoretical or process improvements for future iterations
• Write technical reports indicating qualitative and quantitative results to external parties

Location Amsterdam, Netherlands

Description

At Qualcomm AI Research, we are advancing AI to make its core capabilities – perception, reasoning, and action – ubiquitous across devices. Our mission is to make breakthroughs in fundamental AI research and scale them across industries. By bringing together some of the best minds in the field, we’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and shaping the future of AI.

As Principal Machine Learning Researcher at Qualcomm, you conduct innovative research in machine learning, deep learning, and AI that advances the state-of-the-art. · You develop and quickly iterate on innovative research ideas, and prototype and implement them in collaboration with other researchers and engineers. · You are on top of and actively shaping the latest research in the field and publish papers at top scientific conferences. · You help define and shape our research vision and planning within and across teams and are passionate at execution. · You engage with leads and stakeholders across business units on how to translate research progress into business impact. · You work in one or more of the following research areas: Generative AI, foundation models (LLMs, LVMs), reinforcement learning, neural network efficiency (e.g., quantization, conditional computation, efficient HW), on-device learning and personalization, and foundational AI research.

Working at Qualcomm means being part of a global company (headquartered in San Diego) that fosters a diverse workforce and puts emphasis on the learning opportunities and professional development of its employees. You will work closely with researchers that have published at major conferences, work on campus at the University of Amsterdam, where you have the opportunity to collaborate with academic researchers through university partnerships such as the QUVA lab, and live in a scenic, vibrant city with a healthy work/life balance and a diversity of cultural activities. In addition, you can join plenty of mentorship, learning, peer, and affinity group opportunities within the company. In this way you can easily develop personal and professional skills in your areas of interest. You’re empowered to start your own initiatives and, in doing so, collaborate with colleagues in offices across teams and countries.

Minimum qualifications: · PhD or Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Physics, Mathematics, Electrical engineering or similar field, or equivalent practical experience. · 8+ years of experience in machine learning and AI, and experience in working in an academic or industry research lab. · Strong drive to continuously improve beyond the status quo in translating new ideas into innovative solutions. · Track record of scientific leadership by having published impactful work at major conferences in machine learning, computer vision, or NLP (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, etc.). · Programming experience in Python and experience with standard deep learning toolkits.

Preferred qualifications: · Hands-on experience with foundation models (LLMs, LVMs) and reinforcement learning. · Proven experience in technology and team leadership, and experience with cross-functional stakeholder engagements. · Experience in writing clean and maintainable code for research-internal use (no product development). · Aptitude for guiding and mentoring more junior researchers.

The Prediction & Behavior ML team is responsible for developing machine-learned models that understand the full scene around our vehicle and forecast the behavior for other agents, our own vehicle’s actions, and for offline applications. To solve these problems we develop deep learning algorithms that can learn behaviors from data and apply them on-vehicle to influence our vehicle’s driving behavior and offline to provide learned models to autonomy simulation and validation. Given the tight integration of behavior forecasting and motion planning, our team necessarily works very closely with the Planner team in the advancement of our overall vehicle behavior. The Prediction & Behavior ML team also works closely with our Perception, Simulation, and Systems Engineering teams on many cross-team initiatives.

Location Multiple Locations

Description

Qualcomm's Multimedia R&D and Standards Group is seeking candidates for Video Compression Research Engineer positions. You will be part of world-renowned team of video compression experts. The team develops algorithms, hardware architectures, and systems for state-of-the-art applications of classical and machine learning methods in video compression, video processing, point cloud coding and processing, AR/VR and computer vision use cases. The successful candidate for this position will be a highly self-directed individual with strong creative and analytic skills and a passion for video compression technology. You will work on, but not be limited to, developing new applications of classical and machine learning methods in video compression improving state-of-the-art video codecs.

We are considering candidates with various levels of experience. We are flexible on location and open to hiring anywhere, preferred locations are USA, Germany and Taiwan.

Responsibilities: Contribute to the conception, development, implementation, and optimization of new algorithms extending existing techniques and systems allowing improved video compression. Initiate ideas, design and implement algorithms for superior hardware encoder performance, including perceptually based bit allocation. Develop new algorithms for deep learning-based video compression solutions. Represent Qualcomm in the related standardization forums: JVET, MPEG Video, and ITU-T/VCEG. Document and present new algorithms and implementations in various forms, including standards contributions, patent applications, conference and journal publications, presentations, etc. Ideal candidate would have the skills/experience below: Expert knowledge of the theory, algorithms, and techniques used in video and image coding. Knowledge and experience of video codecs and their test models, such as ECM, VVC, HEVC and AV1. Experience with deep learning structures CNN, RNN, autoencoder etc. and frameworks like TensorFlow/PyTorch. Track record of successful research accomplishments demonstrated through published papers, and/or patent applications in the fields of video coding or video processing. Solid programming and debugging skills in C/C++. Strong written and verbal English communication skills, great work ethic, and ability to work in a team environment to accomplish common goals. PhD or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics or similar field, or equivalent practical experience.

Qualifications: PhD or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, or similar fields. 1+ years of experience with programming language such as C, C++, MATLAB, etc.

Redmond, Washington, United States

Overview Do you want to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Do you have a passion for solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technologies?

The Human-AI eXperiences (HAX) team at Microsoft Research AI Frontiers is looking for exceptional candidates to advance the state-of-the-art in human-AI collaboration with a focus on leveraging the capabilities of people and foundation model-based agents and systems to solve real problems.

As a Principal Researcher on our team, you will:

Work on challenging and impactful projects in areas such as human-AI collaboration and teaming, foundation model-based systems, multi-agent systems, next generation AI experiences and responsible AI. Apply your skills and knowledge to build practical solutions to solve real problems and impact the world. Collaborate with other researchers and engineers across the company to amplify your impact and grow your career in a supportive and stimulating environment. We are looking for candidates who have:

A drive for real world impact, demonstrated by a passion to build and release prototypes or OSS frameworks.
Demonstrated track record of influential projects and publications in relevant fields and top-tier conferences and journals (such as NeurIPS, ICML, AAAI, CHI, UIST). Demonstrated interdisciplinary experience in applied machine learning, natural language processing, and human computer interaction including experience doing offline and online evaluations, and conducting user studies and user-centered research. Exceptional coding experience and hands-on experience working with large foundation models and related frameworks and toolkits. Familiarity with LLMs such as the OpenAI Generative Pre-Trained Transformers (GPT) models, LLAMA etc., model finetuning techniques (LORA, QLORA), prompting techniques (Chain of Thought, ReACT etc.) and model evaluation is beneficial.
A passion for innovation and creativity, evidenced by the ability to generate novel ideas, approaches, and solutions. A team player mindset, characterized by effective communication, collaboration, and feedback skills.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities Perform cutting-edge research to solve real-world problems. Collaborate closely with other researchers, engineers, and product group partners on high-impact projects that deliver real-world impact to people and society. Embody our culture and values.

Excited to see you at CVPR! We’ll be at booth 1404. Come see us to talk more about roles.

Our team consists of people with diverse software and academic experiences. We work together towards one common goal: integrating the software, you'll help us build into hundreds of millions of vehicles.

As a Research Engineer, you will work collaboratively to improve our models and iterate on novel research directions, sometimes in just days. We're looking for talented engineers who would enjoy applying their skills to deeply complex and novel AI problems. Specifically, you will:

• Apply and extend the Helm proprietary algorithmic toolkit for unsupervised learning and perception problems at scale
• Carefully execute the development and maintenance of tools used for deep learning experiments designed to provide new functionality for customers or address relevant corner cases in the system as a whole
• Work closely with software and autonomous vehicle engineers to deploy algorithms on internal and customer vehicle platforms

Gothenburg, Sweden

This fully-funded PhD position offers an opportunity to delve into the area of geometric deep learning within the broader landscape of machine learning and 3D computer vision. As a candidate, you'll have the chance to develop theoretical concepts and innovative methodologies while contributing to real-world imaging applications. Moreover, you will enjoy working in a diverse, collaborative, supportive and internationally recognized environment.

The PhD project centers on understanding and improving deep learning methods for 3D scene analysis and 3D generative diffusion models. We aim to explore new ways of encoding symmetries in deep learning models in order to scale up computations, a necessity for realizing truly 3D generative models for general scenes. We aim to explore the application of these models in key problems involving novel view synthesis and self-supervised learning.

If you are interested and present at CVPR, then feel free to reach out to Prof. Fredrik Kahl, head of the Computer Vision Group.

Figma is growing our team of passionate people on a mission to make design accessible to all. Born on the Web, Figma helps entire product teams brainstorm, design and build better products — from start to finish. Whether it’s consolidating tools, simplifying workflows, or collaborating across teams and time zones, Figma makes the design process faster, more efficient, and fun while keeping everyone on the same page. From great products to long-lasting companies, we believe that nothing great is made alone—come make with us!

The AI Platform team at Figma is working on an exciting mission of expanding the frontiers of AI for creativity, and developing magical experiences in Figma products. This involves making existing features like search smarter, and incorporating new features using cutting edge Generative AI and deep learning techniques. We’re looking for engineers with a background in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to improve our products and build new capabilities. You will be driving fundamental and applied research in this area. You will be combining industry best practices and a first-principles approach to design and build ML models that will improve Figma’s design and collaboration tool.

What you’ll do at Figma:

• Driving fundamental and applied research in ML/AI using Generative AI, deep learning and classical machine learning, with Figma product use cases in mind.
• Formulate and implement new modeling approaches both to improve the effectiveness of Figma’s current models as well as enable the launch of entirely new AI-powered product features.
• Work in concert with other ML researchers, as well as product and infrastructure engineers to productionize new models and systems to power features in Figma’s design and collaboration tool.
• Expand the boundaries of what is possible with the current technology set and experiment with novel ideas.
• Publish scientific work on problems relevant to Figma in leading conferences like ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR etc.

We'd love to hear from you if you have:

• Recently obtained or is in the process of obtaining a PhD in AI, Computer Science or a related field. Degree must be completed prior to starting at Figma.
• Demonstrated expertise in machine learning with a publication record in relevant conferences, or a track record in applying machine learning techniques to products.
• Experience in Python and machine learning frameworks (such as PyTorch, TensorFlow or JAX).
• Experience building systems based on deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and/or generative models.
• Experience solving sophisticated problems and comparing alternative solutions, trade-offs, and diverse points of view to determine a path forward.
• Experience communicating and working across functions to drive solutions.

While not required, it’s an added plus if you also have:

• Experience working in industry on relevant AI projects through internships or past full time work.
• Publications in recent advances in AI like Large language models (LLMs), Vision language Models (VLMs) or diffusion models.

Location Niskayuna, NY

Description Job Description Summary At GE Aerospace Research, our team develops advanced embedded systems technology for the future of flight. Our technology will enable sustainable air travel and next generation aviation systems for use in commercial as well as military applications. As a Lead Embedded Software Engineer, you will architect and develop state-of-the-art embedded systems for real-time controls and communication applications. You will lead and contribute to advanced research and development programs for GE Aerospace as well as with U.S. Government Agencies. You will collaborate with fellow researchers from a range of technology disciplines, contributing to projects across the breadth of GE Aerospace programs. Job Description Essential Responsibilities: As a Lead Embedded Software Engineer, you will:

Work independently as well as with a team to develop and apply advanced software technologies for embedded controls and communication systems for GE Aerospace products Interact with hardware suppliers and engineering tool providers to identify the best solutions for the most challenging applications Lead small to medium-sized projects or tasks Be responsible for documenting technology and results through patent applications, technical reports, and publications Expand your expertise staying current with advances in embedded software to seek out new ideas and applications Collaborate in a team environment with colleagues across GE Aerospace and government agencies

Qualifications/Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related disciplines with a minimum of 7 years of industry experience OR a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related disciplines with a minimum of 5 years of industry experience OR a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related disciplines with a minimum of 3 years of industry experience. Strong background in software development for embedded systems (e.g., x86, ARM) Strong embedded programming skills such as: C/C++, Python, and Rust Familiarity with CNSA and NIST cryptographic algorithms Willingness to travel at a minimum of 2 weeks per year Ability to obtain and maintain US Government Security Clearance US Citizenship required Must be willing to work out of an office located in Niskayuna, NY You must submit your application for employment on the careers page at www.gecareers.com to be considered Ideal Candidate Characteristics:

Coding experience with Bash, Python, C#, MATLAB, ARMv8 assembly, RISCV assembly Experience with embedded devices from Intel, AMD, Xilinx, NXP, etc. Experience with hardware-based security (e.g., UEFI, TPM, ARM TrustZone, Secure Boot) Understanding of embedded system security requirements and security techniques Experience with Linux OS and Linux security Experience with OpenSSL and/or wolfSSL Experience with wired and wireless networking protocols or network security Knowledge of 802.1, 802.3, and/or 802.11 standards Experience in software defined networks (SDN) and relevant software such as OpenFlow, Open vSwitch, or Mininet Hands-on experience with embedded hardware (such as protoboards) or networking equipment (such as switches and analyzers) in a laboratory setting Experience with embedded development in an RTOS environment (e.g., VxWorks, FreeRTOS) Demonstrated ability to take an innovative idea from a concept to a product Experience with the Agile methodology of program management The base pay range for this position is 90,000 - 175,000 USD Annually. The specific pay offered may be influenced by a variety of factors, including the candidate’s experience, education, and skill set. This position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus based on a percentage of your base salary. This posting is expected to close on June 16, 2024

Location Santa Clara, CA

Description Amazon is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Applied Scientists with a strong machine learning background to help build industry-leading Speech, Vision and Language technology.

AWS Utility Computing (UC) provides product innovations — from foundational services such as Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), to consistently released new product innovations that continue to set AWS’s services and features apart in the industry. As a member of the UC organization, you’ll support the development and management of Compute, Database, Storage, Internet of Things (Iot), Platform, and Productivity Apps services in AWS. Within AWS UC, Amazon Dedicated Cloud (ADC) roles engage with AWS customers who require specialized security solutions for their cloud services.

Our mission is to provide a delightful experience to Amazon’s customers by pushing the envelope in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Machine Translation (MT), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), Machine Learning (ML) and Computer Vision (CV).

As part of our AI team in Amazon AWS, you will work alongside internationally recognized experts to develop novel algorithms and modeling techniques to advance the state-of-the-art in human language technology. Your work will directly impact millions of our customers in the form of products and services that make use of speech and language technology. You will gain hands on experience with Amazon’s heterogeneous speech, text, and structured data sources, and large-scale computing resources to accelerate advances in spoken language understanding.

We are hiring in all areas of human language technology: ASR, MT, NLU, text-to-speech (TTS), and Dialog Management, in addition to Computer Vision.

Mountain View

Who we are Our team is the first in the world to use autonomous vehicles on public roads using end-to-end deep learning. With our multi-national world-class technical team, we’re building things differently.

We don’t think it’s scalable to tell an algorithm how to drive through hand-coded rules and expensive HD maps. Instead, we believe that using experience and data will allow our algorithms to be more intelligent: capable of easily adapting to new environments. Our aim is to be the future of self-driving cars: the first to deploy in 100 cities across the world bringing autonomy to everyone, everywhere.

Where you will have an impact: Science is the team that is advancing our end-to-end autonomous driving research. The team’s mission is to accelerate our journey to AV2.0 and ensure the future success of Wayve by incubating and investing in new ideas that have the potential to become game-changing technological advances for the company.

As the first Research Manager in our Mountain View office, you will be responsible for managing & scaling a strong Science team which is building our Wayve Foundational Model in collaboration with other Wayve science teams in London and Vancouver. You will provide coaching and guidance to each of the researchers and engineers within your team and work with leaders across the company to ensure sustainable career growth for your team during a period of growth in the company. You will participate in our project-based operating model where your focus will be unlocking the potential of your team and its technical leaders to drive industry-leading impact. As part of your work, you will help identify the right projects to invest in, ensure the right allocation of resources to those projects, keep the team in good health, provide technical feedback to your team, share progress to build momentum, and build alignment and strong collaboration across the wider Science organisation. We are actively hiring and aim to substantially grow our research team over the next two years and you will be at the heart of this.

What you’ll bring to Wayve Essential: Prior experience as a manager of research teams (10-15+ people) with a clear career interest towards management Passionate about fostering personal and professional growth in individual team members Experience with roadmap planning, stakeholder management, requirements gathering and alignment with peers towards milestones and deliverables Strong knowledge of Machine Learning and related areas, such as Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, etc. Industry experience with machine learning technology development which has had real-world product impact Experience driving a team and technical project through the full lifecycle, ideally within the language, vision or multimodal space Passionate about bringing research concepts through to product Research and engineering fundamentals MS or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or similar experience

Desirable: Experience managing the execution of a technical product Good experience working in a project-based (“matrix”) operating environment Proven track record of successfully delivering research projects and publications Experience working with robotics, self-driving, AR/VR, or LLMs Our offer Competitive compensation, on-site chef and bar, lots of fun socials, workplace nursery scheme, comprehensive private health insurance and more! Immersion in a team of world-class researchers, engineers and entrepreneurs. A position to shape the future of autonomous driving, and thus bring about a real world deployment of a breakthrough technology. Help relocating/travelling to London, with visa sponsorship. Flexible working hours - we trust you to do your job well, at times that suit you and your team.

A postdoctoral position is available in Harvard Ophthalmology Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab (https://ophai.hms.harvard.edu) under the supervision of Dr. Mengyu Wang (https://ophai.hms.harvard.edu/team/dr-wang/) at Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School. The start date is flexible, with a preference for candidates capable of starting in August or September 2024. The initial appointment will be for one year with the possibility of extension. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Salary for the postdoctoral fellow will follow the NIH guideline commensurate with years of postdoctoral research experience.

In the course of this interdisciplinary project, the postdoc will collaborate with a team of world-class scientists and clinicians with backgrounds in visual psychophysics, engineering, biostatistics, computer science, and ophthalmology. The postdoc will work on developing statistical and machine learning models to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of common eye diseases such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. The postdoc will have access to abundant resources for education, career development and research both from the Harvard hospital campus and Harvard University campus. More than half of our postdocs secured a faculty position after their time in our lab.

For our data resources, we have about 3 million 2D fundus photos and more than 1 million 3D optical coherence tomography scans. Please check http://ophai.hms.harvard.edu/data for more details. For our GPU resources, we have 22 in-house GPUs in total including 8 80-GB Nvidia H100 GPUs, 10 48-GB Nvidia RTX A6000 GPUs, and 4 Nvidia RTX 6000 GPUs. Please check http://ophai.hms.harvard.edu/computing for more details. Our recent research has been published in ICCV 2023, ICLR 2024, CVPR 2024, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, and Medical Image Analysis. Please check https://github.com/Harvard-Ophthalmology-AI-Lab for more details.

The successful applicant will:

1. possess or be on track to complete a PhD or MD with background in computer science, mathematics, computational science, statistics, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, image processing, biomedical engineering, bioinformatics, visual science and ophthalmology or a related field. Fluency in written and spoken English is essential.

2. have strong programming skills (Python, R, MATLAB, C++, etc.) and in-depth understanding of statistics and machine learning. Experience with Linux clusters is a plus.

3. have a strong and productive publication record.

4. have a strong work ethic and time management skills along with the ability to work independently and within a multidisciplinary team as required.

Your application should include:

1. curriculum vitae

2. statement of past research accomplishments, career goal and how this position will help you achieve your goals

3. Two representative publications

4. contact information for three references

The application should be sent to Mengyu Wang via email (mengyu_wang at meei.harvard.edu) with subject “Postdoctoral Application in Harvard Ophthalmology AI Lab".

Vancouver

Who we are Established in 2017, Wayve is a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, driven by breakthroughs in Embodied AI. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic technologies empower vehicles to navigate complex environments effortlessly.

Supported by prominent investors, Wayve is advancing the transition from assisted to fully automated driving, making transportation safer, more efficient, and universally accessible. Join our world-class, multinational team of engineers and researchers as we push the boundaries of frontier AI and autonomous driving, creating impactful technologies and products on a global scale

Where you will have an impact Science is the team that is advancing our end-to-end autonomous driving research. The team’s mission is to accelerate our journey to AV2.0 and ensure the future success of Wayve by incubating and investing in new ideas that have the potential to become game-changing technological advances for the company.

As the first Research Manager in our Vancouver office, you will be responsible for managing & scaling a strong Science team in collaboration with other Wayve science teams in London and Mountain View. You will provide coaching and guidance to each of the researchers and engineers within your team and work with leaders across the company to ensure sustainable career growth for your team during a period of growth in the company. You will participate in our project-based operating model where your focus will be unlocking the potential of your team and its technical leaders to drive industry-leading impact. As part of your work, you will help identify the right projects to invest in, ensure the right allocation of resources to those projects, keep the team in good health, provide technical feedback to your team, share progress to build momentum, and build alignment and strong collaboration across the wider Science organisation. We are actively hiring and aim to substantially grow our research team over the next two years and you will be at the heart of this.

Challenges you will own Work closely with team members to develop career plans and growth trajectories based on each individual’s strengths and weaknesses and their own aspirations. Work closely with project leads to ensure team members are having strong impact and are set up for success. Work closely with project leads and Science leadership to ensure projects are resourced in a way that balances the needs of the business with the needs of the individuals. Offer coaching and technical mentorship to direct reports (especially project leads). Bring technical & project management expertise and experience to help accelerate our progress and decision-making. Challenge the status quo (both technical and organisational/process). Prioritize effectively and keep processes lean and effective. Partner with leadership to maintain a culture of cross-boundary collaboration, impact, innovation, and health. Grow the team as a hiring manager, to bring in complementary, diverse skill sets and backgrounds. Anticipate the needs of the business 6-24 months out, identify areas where additional resources are needed or we need to grow new domain expertise, and pitch this to leadership for investment. Contribute to the day-to-day running of the Science team’s operations and larger collaborative efforts.

San Jose, CA

The Media Analytics team at NEC Labs America is seeking outstanding researchers with backgrounds in computer vision or machine learning. Candidates must possess an exceptional track record of original research and passion to create high impact products. Our key research areas include autonomous driving, open vocabulary perception, prediction and planning, simulation, neural rendering, agentic LLMs and foundational vision-language models. We have a strong internship program and active collaborations with academia. The Media Analytics team publishes extensively at top-tier venues such as CVPR, ICCV or ECCV.

To check out our latest work, please visit: https://www.nec-labs.com/research/media-analytics/

Qualifications: 1. PhD in Computer Science (or equivalent) 2. Strong publication record at top-tier computer vision or machine learning venues 3. Motivation to conduct independent research from conception to implementation.