[robocup-humanoid] Post-doctoral research position in cognitive robotics and machine learning

[Luís Seabra Lopes]

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POST-DOC RESEARCHER POSITION
Job reference: MI-PI-46-ARH/2012
 
Transverse Activity on Intelligent Robotics
University of Aveiro, Portugal
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Apply by 2012/12/31

 
In the framework of FP7 project RACE ("Robustness by 
Autonomous Competence Enhancement"), the Institute for 
Electronics and Telematics Engineering (IEETA), University 
of Aveiro, intends to fill, in the near future, a post-
doctoral research position, under a "Contrato a Termo 
Resolutivo Certo" (a fixed-term work contract for one year, 
renewable for a second year, index 195, about 45,000 
euros / year), in the area of Intelligent Robotics.
 
The hired person will carry out research work as part of 
the participation of the University of Aveiro in the 
mentioned project, focusing on experience gathering and 
conceptualization for learning about physical objects 
as well as robot activities. The hired researcher will also 
contribute to the integration of diverse functionalities 
for a successful participation of UA in the mentioned project.
 
To this effect, IEETA is interested in gathering detailed 
curricula of potential stakeholders in the mentioned 
position.
 
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Who can apply?
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Candidates should have the following general 
characteristics:
 
** Ph.D. degree in Artificial Intelligence, Intelligent 
     Robotics or related field, and, preferably, post-doctoral 
     experience in these areas; the ideal candidate should 
     have a background on at least some of the topics relevant 
     for RACE, namely knowledge representation, AI planning, 
     machine learning, case-based reasoning and computer 
     vision, preferably with experience in the application of 
     such techniques to robotics.
** Record of high-quality research in some of the areas 
     relevant for the position;
** Hability for, not only performing high-quality research 
     autonomously, but also for participating in collaborative 
     research projects and supervising other researchers, 
     namely at the PhD student level.
 
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How to apply?
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Applications should be addressed to the Rector of the 
University of Aveiro and submitted electronically by 
2012/12/31 to the Human Resources Division of the 
University of Aveiro (sgrhf-concursos at ua.pt and Cc. 
to lsl at ua.pt). Applications must be presented in .pdf 
format, and must include the following documents:
 
** Detailed curriculum vitae; 
** Copy of an identification document; 
** A statement of motivations and objectives of the 
     candidate as far as this position is concerned; 
** Copies of certificates of academic qualifications; 
** The names and contact data of three academic 
     references.
 
The official announcement, with additional information, 
can be found here:
https://www.ua.pt/sgrhf/ReadObject.aspx?obj=27068
 
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The RACE project
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The overall aim of this EU FP7 project is to develop an 
artificial cognitive system able to build a high-level 
understanding of the world it inhabits by storing and 
exploiting appropriate memories of its experiences. Robot 
competence is obtained by abstracting and generalising 
from experiences, extending task planning and execution 
beyond preconceived situations. The project aims to 
produce the following key results: (i) Robots capable of 
storing experiences in their memory in terms of multi-level 
representations connecting actuator and sensory 
experiences with meaningful high-level structures, 
(ii) Methods for learning and generalising from experiences 
obtained from behaviour in realistically scaled real-world 
environments, (iii) Robots demonstrating superior robustness 
and effectiveness in new situations and unknown 
environments using experience-based planning and 
behaviour adaptation. The project developments will be 
integrated and demonstrated on a PR2 robot, from Willow 
Garage.
 
The University of Aveiro is involved in the development 
of modules concerned with experience gathering,
high-level learning about robot activities and the manipulated 
objects, and human-robot interaction.
 
Additional information:
http://project-race.eu/
 
 
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UA and ATRI
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The University of Aveiro is in the top 2% universities 
in “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 
2011-2012”, and is also among the top 100 universities 
in the world with less than 50 years. UA is attended by about 
15,000 students on undergraduate and postgraduate 
programmes. ATRI/UA has been conducting projects leading 
to the development of integrated architectures for intelligent 
robotic systems. This group is well known for its successful 
participation in many robotic competitions (RoboCup, 
Portuguese Robotics Festival, AAAI, SRVC, etc.)
 
Additional information:
http://www.ua.pt/Default.aspx?lg=en
http://wiki.ieeta.pt/wiki/index.php/Transverse_Activity_on_Intelligent_Robotics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aveiro,_Portugal