Doctoral Researcher (Intelligent Work Machines), 8 positions – Tampere, Finland

Tampere University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences create a unique environment for multidisciplinary, inspirational and high-impact research and education. Our university community has its competitive edges in technology, health and society. www.tuni.fi/en

Intelligent Work Machines (IWM) Doctoral Program is looking for Doctoral Researchers.

The IWM doctoral program educates new generations of professionals to the PhD level with multidisciplinary engineering knowledge needed for intelligent machinery development. The doctoral training connects academic research excellence with a relevant industrial research and development challenges and accelerate industrial renewal in the machine industry.

The IWM doctoral program collects the leading departments and research groups in Finland. In the program there are 31 positions in five Finnish universities: Aalto University, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Tampere University, University of Oulu, and University of Turku. www.tuni.fi/iwm

Job description

Tampere University is looking for 8 Doctoral Researchers in the areas of robotics, control, automation, human-machine interaction, and business models to boost area of Intelligent Work Machines. Successful candidates will pursue a doctoral degree at Tampere University. The positions are full-time and for three years, during which doctoral studies are expected to be completed.

Requirements

You need to have a Master’s degree in an applicable areas listed above and have demonstrated (during your studies towards the Master’s degree or otherwise) the competence and motivation to pursue postgraduate studies. Please be prepared to provide proof of your merits when requested.

Successful candidates must be pursuing or need to be accepted (within the trial period) to study for a doctoral degree in the doctoral programme of the discipline. Please visit the admissions webpage https://www.tuni.fi/en/study-with-us/programmes/doctoral-programmes for more information on eligibility requirements. If you already have a study right for a doctoral degree at Tampere University, it needs to be awarded 1 November 2023 or thereafter for you to be eligible for these positions.

The position requires working full-time in Tampere, Finland for the time of the employment. The chosen candidate needs to have the required permits for working in Finland before starting the employment (depending on the nationality of the candidate, e.g. residence permit in Finland). The candidate must be able to demonstrate English language skills that are sufficient to follow doctoral studies.

Tampere University is a unique, multidisciplinary, and boldly forward-looking, evolving community. Our values are openness, diversity, responsibility, courage, critical thinking, erudition, and learner-centredness. We hope that you can embrace these values and promote them in your work.

The research topics at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (https://www.tuni.fi/en/about-us/faculty-engineering-and-natural-sciences):

1. Advanced learning for autonomous rough terrain navigation: use case construction and forestry

2. Advanced learning for autonomous heavy material handling: use case construction and forestry

3. Context sensitive guidance, navigation and control of autonomous vehicles in unstructured environments

4. Distributed multi-agent pickup and delivery for networked intelligent work machines.

5. Energy management of hydrogen-electric hybrid drives for Intelligent Work Machines

6. Intelligent AI-based model predictive control to support sustainability and remaining useful life of off-road machinery

7. Novel Actuators based system design to support automation of off-road machinery

8. Optimization automation software for high-performance in high-density robotized logistic systems

9. Safe AI-powered whole-body motion/force controllers for heavy-duty mobile manipulators

10. Safe teaching of diverse forceful skills to heavy-duty mobile manipulators

11. Visual-language-action models for robot manipulation

The research topics at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences (https://www.tuni.fi/en/about-us/faculty-information-technology-and-communication-sciences)

12. Contextual information visualization for intelligent work machines

13. Data exchange and data sharing management in collaborative autonomous operations and services

14. Differentiable rendering methods for object 6D pose estimation for object grasping and augmented reality.

15. Eye-movements in the context of intelligent work machines

16. Multi-channel human behaviour analysis for intelligent work machines

17. Multimodal enhancement of human situational awareness in intelligent work machine contexts

18. Neural rendering and 3D Gaussian splatting techniques for fast and reliable digital twinning

The research topics at the Faculty of Management and Business (https://www.tuni.fi/en/about-us/faculty-management-and-business)

19. Innovative business models for IWM

20. Value creation in IWM ecosystem and new customer value propositions

The selection criteria 

Candidates are selected based on the level of potential that they show, and this will be evaluated on the basis of their study and research plans, their previous success in studies, and merits in writing the doctoral thesis and / or scientific publishing.

We offer

The position will be filled for a fixed-term period of three years. The starting date is 1 August 2024 (or, if mutually agreed, 1 January 2025). A trial period of six (6) months applies to all our new employees.

The salary will be based on both the job requirements and the employee’s personal performance in accordance with the salary system of Finnish universities. According to the criteria applied to teaching and research staff, the position of a Doctoral Researcher is placed on level 2—4 of the job requirements scale. A typical starting salary for Doctoral Researchers is approximately 2,600-2,900 EUR/month. The salary increases based on experience and the progress of doctoral studies.

We are inviting you to be a part of a vibrant, active and truly international research community. We value interdisciplinarity, as it allows you to expand your research network and exposes you to new perspectives and ideas to solve complex research problems and pursue novel research findings. We are strongly committed to the highest level of scientific research and the provision of high-quality doctoral education.

As a member of staff at Tampere University, you will enjoy a range of competitive benefits, such as occupational health care services, flexible work schedule, versatile research infrastructure, modern teaching facilities and a safe and inviting campus area, a variety of affordable cafeterias/ campus restaurants on our campuses as well as a personal fund to spend on sports and cultural activities in your free time. Please read more about working at Tampere University. You can also find more information about us and working and living Tampere by watching our video: Tampere Higher Education Community – our academic playground.

Finland is among the most stable, free and safest countries in the world, based on prominent ratings by various agencies. Finland is one of the world’s best countries to work and live in.

Tampere is the largest inland city of Finland, and the city is counted among the major academic hubs in the Nordic countries. Tampere region is the most rapidly growing urban area in Finland and home to a vibrant knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial community. The city is an industrial powerhouse that enjoys a rich cultural scene and a reputation as a centre of Finland’s information society. Tampere is also surrounded by vivid nature with forests and lakes, providing countless opportunities for easy-to-access outdoor adventures and refreshment throughout the year.

We will offer you relocation service package from an external service provider to help you settle in Tampere.

Read more about Finland and Tampere:

• Visit Finland
• This is Finland
• Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: Welcome to Finland
• Visit Tampere
• Welcome to Tampere
• International House Tampere

How to apply

Please submit your application through our online recruitment system. The closing date for applications is 5th April 2024 (23:59 EEST / UTC +3). Please write your application and all the accompanying documentation in English and attach them in PDF format.

In the application form, please specify one to three research topics you are primarily interested in.

Please attach only the following documents to your application:

• A letter of motivation and description of your research interests (max. 2 page(s))
• Curriculum vitae (https://www.tenk.fi/en/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae including the contact details of two referees).
• Your research and study plan (4 pages), including a detailed schedule for your dissertation project.
• A list of publications (if any) as a part of the curriculum vitae (2 pages)
• A motivation letter (2 pages)
• PDF copy of your MSc and BSc degree certificates, including transcripts of all university records and their English translations (Finnish and Swedish certificates are also accepted).

For further information, please contact:

Leader of IWM consortium, Professor, Matti Vilkko, matti.vilkko(at)tuni.fi