—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@hds.utc.fr and Vincent.Fremont@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@hds.utc.fr>.