[alife] PhD position in swarm robotics available at UTC (Compiegne - France)

[Eliseo Ferrante]

—apologies for multiple postings—

A fully-funded three years PhD position in swarm robotics is available at
the Laboratory of Excellence (LABEX) at the Université de Technologie de
Compiègne (UTC) in France (www.utc.fr/labexms2t).

The successful candidate will work with Dr. Eliseo Ferrante on exciting
topics at the interface between swarm robotics, evolutionary biology, and
statistical physics. The research direction will be managed by Dr. Ferrante
in collaboration with the DIVINA project (
https://www.hds.utc.fr/labex-ms2t-484/news-rubrique/events/DIVINA/?lang=en)
team led by Prof. Vincent Frémont. The PhD is expected to start in Fall
2016.

The accepted candidate will work on a project focusing on the design of
self-organized collective behaviors for performing collective exploration
of a an unknown environment using a swarm of robots and principles of
self-organization. The methods will be based on biological models of
information retrieval and integration, such as distributed decision-making
and collective categorization, which in turns recalls the cognitive mapping
processes in the human brain.
For a description of the research interests of Dr. Ferrante, please visit
his website (https://bio.kuleuven.be/ento/ferrante/).

Graduate students with background in computer science, physics, or biology
and with specialization in artificial intelligence, statistical physics,
computational modeling in biology, or robotics are encouraged to apply.
The candidate is expected to be proficient in programming in languages such
as C++ and Java, and to have solid knowledge of scientific software
packages such as Matlab, R, and/or equivalent. Candidates with experience
with multi-agent simulations will be highly preferred. Fluent English
(written and spoken) is required, and only applications in English will be
accepted. Above all, the applicants must be motivated, autonomous, and able
to learn quickly and work effectively on challenging research problems.

We will begin reviewing candidate's applications starting from June 2016.
To apply, you can send the following documents to Eliseo.Ferrante at hds.utc.fr
and Vincent.Fremont at hds.utc.fr:
- Curriculum vitae
- Motivation letter
- At least two references and/or recommendation letters
- A statement of research experience and interests
- Any research articles authored by the applicant


For any informal enquiry about the eligibility conditions, as well as for
more details about the position, please contact Eliseo Ferrante <
eliseo.ferrante at hds.utc.fr>.