📣 2 PhD Positions in Human-Robot Interaction 🤖

Created in March 17, 2021

2021

Faculty of Engineering, School of Computer Science and Engineering, UNSW Sydney

Start Date: Fall, 2021

Area of Research Human-Robot Interaction.

Robots are foreseen to be used in a variety of home contexts and interacting with novice users, such as assisting the dependent elderly in daily housework (i.e., caring and unpacking groceries, fetching, and pouring a glass of water, etc). Enabling robots to adapt to their environment through learning context specific tasks would be necessary for them to be used adequately by non-programming users. Our research aims to investigate novel methods to enable users to provide accurate and robust data for a social robot to learn from them.

Candidate Profile

Required Skills

  • Bachelor or masters degree in Computer Sciences or a related field
  • Good programming skills are required: C++, Python or others
  • Training and skills in AI, machine learning or robotics is preferable
  • Knowledge of classical programming frameworks in these domains is appreciated: Keras, PyTorch, TensorFlow, ROS, etc.
  • English proficiency

Skills Nice to Have

  • A taste for user/application and impact driven research

Research Environment

Depending on the research focus, joint supervisors specialised in Design, Robotics, AI or HCI, will be invited. UNSW and CSE will provide you with access to the HCI and Robotics Labs, GPU clusters and the HRI experimental facility equipped with more than 200 sensors (available to run studies). UNSW Sydney is in the top 100 universities in the world, with more than 59,000 students and a 7,000-strong research community. At UNSW, you will benefit from an international and vibrant research community in a pleasant environment. The net amount of the scholarship will be approximately AUD 2400 per month, increasing annually. You will also receive a holiday allowance. Additional financial support is available for attending conferences and workshops. There will also be possibilities for a research visit (industry or international) during the PhD.

Queries

For informal queries, do not hesitate to contact wafa.johal@unsw.edu.au
Your application should include:

  • A letter highlighting your motivation for your application including: Why do you wish to pursue a PhD in human-robot interaction? What prior experience do you have? How would you approach human-robot interaction research? Also indicate your research interests.
  • A CV, with copies of relevant grades, masters thesis work or publications.
  • The names and contact details of at least 2 referees.

Selected candidates will be invited for an interview, which can be organised over Zoom/Teams.