Doctoral student in Autonomous Systems - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Project description

Third-cycle subject: Computer Science

We look for a doctoral student to join a project focusing on development of planning and control techniques for autonomous systems, funded by Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP). The goal of the doctoral student will be to develop specification formalisms and formal synthesis algorithms allowing to reason about behavior of autonomous systems over extended time horizons, and to implement and evaluate these in robot testbeds. The doctoral student will be a part of the WASP graduate school.

The position is at the department of Robotics, Perception and Learning (RPL) with Jana Tumova’s research group that focuses on designing planning, decision making, and control algorithms to enable safe, purposeful and trustworthy autonomous behavior. The core of our approach is the use of formal methods-inspired techniques that allow for rigorous specification of a rich set of goals, constraints, and preferences, and automated synthesis of plans, policies, and controllers with performance guarantees. We utilize them in applications ranging from autonomous driving to exploration with UAVs or navigation around people.

Supervision: Jana Tumova is proposed to supervise the doctoral student. Decisions are made on admission

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), or
• 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.

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,
• analyze and work with complex issues,
• program software and
• demonstrate knowledge of, experience with, or willingness to work in autonomous systems, robotics, planning, control, or formal methods.

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

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.

As a doctoral student, you are entitled to a workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement. Read more about Doctoral studies (PhD) | KTH | Sweden.

Union representatives

Contact information for union representatives.

Doctoral Student’s network (Students’ union on KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

Contact information for PhD chapter.

To apply for the position

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 include the following elements:

• 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.
• 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 1 page long)
• 1-3 representative publications or technical reports: For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text. If the manuscript is co-authored with others, summarize your own contribution

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

Other information

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

It may be the case that a position at KTH is classified as a security-sensitive role in accordance with the Protective Security Act (2018:585). If this applies to the specific position, a security clearance will be conducted for the applicant in accordance with the same law with the applicant's consent. In such cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved following the security clearance.

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