Doctoral student in Human-Robot Interaction and Social Decision Making - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Project description

Third-cycle subject: Speech technology or Computer science

We seek a PhD student interested in Human-Robot Interaction, Psychology, Behavioral Economics, and Artificial Intelligence and  who will work in a newly funded five-year project at the Department of Speech, Music and Hearing (www.kth.se/tmh) at KTH. The project is financed by Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, and is a collaboration between KTH (PI Gabriel Skantze), Stockholm University (co-PI Jonas Olofsson) and Stockholm School of Economics (co-PI Anna Dreber Almenberg). Gabriel Skantze will be the main supervisor of the PhD student and the others co-supervisors. 

The aim of this interdisciplinary project is to investigate how human-like traits (agency and anthropomorphism) in social robots and AI affect how humans interact with the technology, with respect to psychological and social factors critical for meaningful long-term social interactions and decision making, including trust, reciprocity, altruism, and honesty. To study this, we will develop a novel set of experimental paradigms, influenced by economic games used in behavioral economics (e.g. the ultimatum game). One example of this would be a robot economic counselor from which the subject gets economic advice, and where we can study how the human-like traits of the robot affect the economic decisions made by the subject. 

The position is mainly a research position, with a small fraction of departmental duties (e.g. teaching). The main activities of the PhD student will be to design, implement and perform experiments involving human subjects interacting with social robots (in person) or avatars (online). 

What we offer

• The possibility to study in a dynamic and international research environment in collaboration with industries and prominent universities from all over the world.Read more
• A workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement.
• A postgraduate education at an institution that is active and supportive in matters pertaining to working conditions, gender equality and diversity as well as study environment.
• Work and study in Stockholm, close to nature and the water.
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH.

Admission requirements

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a second cycle degree (for example a master's degree),
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here

Selection

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach and
• analyse and work with complex issues.

Applicants should have a Master degree (or similar) in a subject relevant for the research, such as human-computer interaction, psychology, cognitive science, economics, computational linguistics, or computer science. 

Applicants are expected to have good experience in experimental design and statistics. In order to implement the various experimental designs, we also expect applicants to have programming experience. Good command of English, in writing and speaking, is a prerequisite for presenting research results in international periodicals and at conferences.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal competency. 

Target degree: Doctoral degree

Information regarding admission and employment

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years ' time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

Union representatives

You will find contact information for union representatives on KTH's website.

Doctoral section (Students’ union on KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

You will find contact information for doctoral section on the section's website.

Application

Apply for the position and admission through KTH's recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/entral European Summer Time).

Applications must include the following elements:

• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long)
• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.Copies of originals must be certified.
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Other information

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process please read here.

We firmly decline all contact with staffing and recruitment agencies and job ad salespersons.

Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.