Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Marie Curie Early Stage Research Training in Interactive Robotics

One PhD student position is available in the Cognitive Robotics group at the Department of Computer Science at Humboldt-University Berlin in Dynamic gesture analysis.

This Early Stage Research Training position is funded by the European Union as part of the INTRO Marie Curie Initial Training Network which in total offers 10 positions in the interdisciplinary areas of Interactive Robotics; Cooperative Robot Learning, Cognitive Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) and Intelligent Interface Design. INTRO involves 6 partners: Umea University, Sweden; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany; University of the West of England, Great Britain; Space Applications Services, Belgium, and Robosoft, France.

According to Marie-Curie rules, Early Stage Researcher applicants must be in their first 4 years since gaining a University degree which would entitle them to embark on doctoral studies in the country the degree was received. The candidate cannot apply in his/her own country or the country that he/she has worked or studied in for more than 12 months over the last 3 years. Some exceptions apply.

The PhD student will join a training program in close cooperation with researchers from all partners. The network-wide training program includes a research project, courses, seminars, and workshops.

In this research project, the PhD student will work on dynamic gesture analysis. Important aspects of this research are attention detection and manipulation using gestures, and learning of gestures for human-robot interaction and communication.

Part of the project will be conducted at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. The position will be initially funded for 24 months.

The applicant must have completed an MSc or Diploma thesis in Computer Science or a related area. The applicant must be skilled in both oral and written communication in English, be able to work independently as well as in collaboration with others. Experience in embodied artificial intelligence, robotics, psychology, cognitive sciences and programming are merits. The application should contain a CV, academic grades, a copy of a degree project report and any publications, three personal references (one from the thesis advisor) and one A4 sheet describing the personal motivation for applying for this position.

Informal enquiries should be directed to:

Prof. Dr. Verena Hafner,  email: hafner informatik.hu-berlin.de

Applicants should provide all necessary registration information using reference number DR/029/10 to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Informatik, Prof. Dr. V. Hafner, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, and send an electronic copy (pdf) to hafner informatik.hu-berlin.de.

Salary (which will be subject to German taxation) will be at the EU Marie Curie rate. Other benefits such as a family allowance, career exploratory allowance and travel allowances will be available.

Additional project information can be found at http://introbotics.eu/

Closing date: April 15, 2010. Applications should be sent as soon as possible;

Anticipated starting date is September 2010 or earlier.