Full-time

Ph.D. within the research group of Automated Planning, a key building block of Artificial Intelligence research at the Czech Technical University in Prague.

We are opening a call for a Ph.D. position in the important field of Decision Making and Planning for Robots. The AI Center is located in the heart of Prague covers a wide range of AI research and application domains, currently working on over 30 projects supported by national, EU and US funding agencies as well as industry partners. You would be joining the Automated Planning research group to explore this very exciting field of artificial intelligence.

Decision Making and Planning for Robots

What’s that about? In a nutshell, an intelligent agent or a group of agents has to make a sequence of decisions/actions in order to achieve its goals or maximize its reward. But it gets complicated. The environment is rarely static, meaning exogenous events or actions of other actors might change the environment without the consent of the agents. 

To solve this, there is a range of useful decision-making techniques, i.e., Automated Planning, Markov Decision Process, Monte-Carlo Tree Search and (Deep) Reinforcement Learning, where each approach has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Our task as researchers (including you) is to develop methods that effectively combine these decision-making techniques for reasoning and acting in dynamic and sometimes adversary environments. 

Application potential

Intelligent Decision Making is not a stand-alone research area that lives solely in a lab. There is a number of possible applications including video games, robotic systems, longer-term autonomous systems, traffic control, emergency management and more. Sounds exciting? Reach out to us and let’s design a suitable research topic together.

Ph.D. program in AIC

Our Ph.D. is designed for the period of 4 years in which you will do research in a lab, publish papers, travel to conferences, teach in classes, popularize your field and do everything that means to be a full researcher. 

You can also join our center for a test run before actually applying for the Ph.D. study program. That’s honestly the best way to get to know our team, explore the research area in more depth, earn some extra money and have useful admin support to assist you with the official application process. We will have your back! Don’t wait any longer and get in touch via the application form.

Perks of being a Ph.D. student in AIC

Successful candidates will get a full tuition waiver and 45 000 CZK monthly brutto income (the equivalent of 1 670 EUR). Note that the Czech Republic's cost of living is at 59% of the US price level by OECD statistics. To give you a better idea, the average price of beer in Prague is 1,3 EUR. Cheers to that! With 6 weeks of paid vacation, you will have plenty of time to explore the cozy pubs and vibrant nightlife.

Also, get excited for traveling to attractive conferences abroad, regular internal seminars, an unlimited supply of coffee (very appreciated) and meal vouchers. Our labs are located on the university campus in the historical city center, so perfect transport accessibility is another obvious advantage.

However, what we appreciate the most about our research center is an inspirational and supportive environment. Plus you will have the convenience of working in teams where everyone knows their agenda and the supervisor is at your fingertips to help. With that said, getting your Ph.D. in AI Center FEE CTU will be a forming life experience that will kick off your research career. 

Requirements

  • Master degree in Computer Science
  • Background in Artificial Intelligence
  • Solid programming skills (C++, Python, ...)
  • Solid English knowledge (both written and spoken –⁠ we are an international group of researchers)
  • Ability to conduct work both individually and in a team

Contact

If you decide to embark on your exciting Ph.D. journey of Decision Making and Planning for Robots, you will be supervised by the following senior researchers. Reach out to them if you want to talk more before applying. Otherwise, go ahead and apply directly! We will figure out the details later.