KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

Project description

This project addresses the challenge of how to enable robots to learn in a scalable and cost-efficient manner by gradually acquiring new knowledge from non-expert, semi-situated teachers. To achieve this, computational methods will be developed for robots to query the semi-situated teachers (e.g. crowd workers) and incorporate the newly acquired knowledge into their existing decision-making to further use in situ. This project is funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research.

This is a four-year time-limited position that can be extended up to a year with the inclusion of a maximum of 20% departmental duties, usually teaching. 

Third-cycle subject: Computer Science  

Supervision: The student would be supervised by Associate Prof. Iolanda Leite, who leads the Social Robotics Group at the Division of Robotics, Perception and Learning (RPL).

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), 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, 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.

The ideal candidate has a degree in Computer Science or related fields.

The successful candidate is highly motivated to pursue scientific studies, have the ability to pursue independent work, critical analyses and possess strong collaborative and communication skills.  

During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon documented ability to speak and write in English. The candidates will also be assessed upon programming skills. Further experience with robotics, human-robot interaction, human-computer interaction and machine learning are important.

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

Contact information KTH’s website.

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

Contact information 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/Central European Summer Time).

Applications must include:

• 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, 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.

Type of employment Temporary position longer than 6 months
Contract type Full time
First day of employment According to agreement. As soon as possible and no later than January of 2023.
Salary Monthly salary according to KTH’s doctoral student salary agreement
Number of positions 1
Working hours 100%
City Stockholm
County Stockholms län
Country Sweden
Reference number J-2022-1401
Contact
Iolanda Leite Associate Professor, iolanda@kth.se
Lisa Olsson HR Officer, rekrytering@eecs.kth.se
Published 09.Jun.2022
Last application date 15.Aug.2022 11:59 PM CEST
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