* Dear colleagues, there is a postdoc and PhD openingin the humanoid, cognitive, and neurorobotics group (https://cyber.felk.cvut.cz/research/groups-teams/humanoids/) coordinated by Dr. Matej Hoffmann (https://sites.google.com/site/matejhof/) at the Department of Cybernetics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague. The topics are in the context of a 5-year project entitled “Whole-body awareness for safe and natural interaction: from brains to collaborative robots” for excellence in fundamental research from the Czech Science Foundation (see https://cyber.felk.cvut.cz/news/new-gacr-expro-project <https://cyber.felk.cvut.cz/news/new-gacr-expro-project/>for more information) and include: - Analysis and modeling of infant behavioral data related to reaching, reaching to the self, and mirror self-recognition - Employing humanoid robots with artificial skin to construct embodied computational models of body and peripersonal space representations - Neural network models of multisensory integration and peripersonal space - Social human-robot interaction focusing on touch and interpersonal distance Open positions: Postdoc. The postdoc will independently conduct research and will also be involved in shaping the research of the group and supervising students. The gross salary will be in the range of CZK 50 000-70 000 per month (approx. 2000-2700 EUR) depending on qualification, plus direct bonuses for scientific achievements such as top-tier publications. PhD student. The topic will be co-defined with the student depending on his skills and interests. The standard duration of the PhD study is 4 years. The funding corresponds to a gross salary of CZK 45 000 per month (approx. 1750 EUR), plus direct bonuses for scientific achievements such as top-tier publications. Robots and infrastructure The humanoids group has at its disposal several humanoid robots (iCub, 2 Naos - 1 with whole-body sensitive skin) and collaborative or lightweight manipulators (KUKA LBR iiwa, UR10e with Airskin, Kinova Gen3). Additional infrastructure includes several robot hands (Barrett Hand BH8-282, QB Soft Hand) and grippers, a 3D Motion Capture System, impact measuring devices, etc. The group has also access to the facilities of the Research Center for Informatics such as a high-performance computational cluster. International collaborations There is a large group of international experts who have agreed to act as collaborators/advisors on the project. These include experts in - developmental psychology: Dr. Kevin O’Regan (CNRS, Paris), Prof. Jeffrey J. Lockman (Tulane University, New Orleans) - cognitive psychology and neuroscience: Prof. Matthew Longo (Birkbeck University, London), Prof. Tobias Heed (Bielefeld), Prof. Andrea Serino (University of Lausanne), Dr. Jean-Paul Noel (Center for Neural Science at New York University), Drs. M.Gori and Giulia Cappagli (Italian Institute of Technology, Dr. S. Signorini (IRCSS Fondazione Mondino Pavia) - physical human-robot interaction: Prof. Sami Haddadin (TU Munich), Dr. Arash Ajoudani (Italian Institute of Technology), Dr. Michael Zillich (Blue Danube Robotics – manufacturer of Airskin) - social human-robot interaction: Dr. Alessandra Sciutti (Italian Institute of Technology), Dr. Hagen Lehmann (University of Macerata) Prague There is currently a very lively international ecosystem in the areas of robotics and AI - at the Department and in Prague in general. See, for example, http://rci.cvut.cz/or https://prg.ai/en/. How to apply. The application should include: -Motivation letter (max. 1 page) - CV (including 2 reference persons) -1 Letter of recommendation (can be from 1 of the reference persons above) Please send the applications or inquiries to matej.hoffmann@fel.cvut.czwith (“PhD application” or “postdoc application” in the subject). The positions are open until filled. Best regards, Matej Hoffmann * -- Matej Hoffmann, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Cybernetics Faculty of Electrical Engineering Czech Technical University in Prague https://sites.google.com/site/matejhof/home +420 224 357 387