Research Assistant - Local AI Assistant for Animation Artist

About the role

The School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) at NTU is looking for a Research Assistant to help Professor Raimund Krumme, a world-renowned animator, during his two-month residency at ADM (mid-September to mid-November 2026). The project uses ComfyUI to build a personalized, local AI assistant for a hand-drawn animation artist, bringing his strictly analogue, ink-and-brush process into a simple, privacy-safe workflow that a non-technical artist can run on their own.

Key responsibilities

• Set up and optimise local, open-source AI models (Stable Diffusion/ComfyUI) on high-end workstation hardware, with no cloud dependency.
• Train local LoRAs and ControlNets on a curated archive of the artist's analogue sketches and scans.
• Package the ComfyUI workflow into a simple, easy-to-run form (presets, node groups or a lightweight Gradio front-end) so the artist can operate it independently.
• Provide on-the-ground technical support during the residency (14 September to 13 November 2026).
• Document the system architecture and user-testing feedback for the final research report.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Animation, Film Studies, Media Studies or a related discipline.
• Hands-on experience with ComfyUI and local AI deployments (Automatic1111, Forge, etc.), including training LoRAs and ControlNets.
• Understanding of local hardware optimisation (GPU/VRAM management).
• Able to turn an artist's creative intent into technical parameters, with patience for working with a non-technical collaborator.