PhD Student – Scientific Employee (m/f/d) in Robotics and Machine Learning (Robot Learning)

The Multimodal Intelligent Interaction group at the University of Bamberg seeks to fill, as soon as possible, a position as

PhD Student – Scientific Employee (m/f/d)
in Robotics and Machine Learning (Robot Learning)
(Full-time, salary according to E13 TV-L)

initially for a fixed term of 2 years, with the option of extension and the goal of obtaining a doctoral degree.

The advertised position focuses on the intersection of robotics and machine learning. The central question is how robots can learn skills, transfer them to new objects and tasks, and combine them into reliable, multi-step sequences of actions. Possible methodological approaches include imitation and reinforcement learning, vision-language-action models, and generative action models. The range of topics also includes combining learning-based methods with planning and explicit knowledge of tasks and their constraints. Potential applications include, in particular, handling and assembly tasks involving a wide range of variants in industrial and service robotics.

Your Role:

• Independent scientific work on a research topic in robot learning and autonomous manipulation with the goal of obtaining a doctoral degree
• Development, implementation, and reproducible experimental evaluation of new methods in simulation and on real robotic systems
• Participation in research and teaching at the group
• Presentation of research results at international conferences and publication in internationally recognized journals
• Implementation and further development of robot demonstrators for research and teaching
• Teaching courses and supervising seminar papers and theses

Your Profile:

• A university degree (Master's or equivalent) in computer science or a comparable degree programme with a strong computer science focus, with an overall grade of "good" or better
• Very good knowledge of computer science and mathematics as well as sound knowledge of robotics and machine learning
• Very good programming skills (including C++ and Python) and experience in independently implementing algorithmic methods, for example as part of a project or thesis
• Practical experience in implementing, training, and evaluating machine learning methods using a current framework (e.g., PyTorch), as well as with a physics-based simulation environment (e.g., MuJoCo, Isaac Sim)
• Experience with real robotic systems (e.g., Franka Research 3) and robotics frameworks such as ROS is an advantage
• Clear motivation to pursue a doctoral degree and a strong interest in developing your own research questions, critically examining methods, and publishing results
• Strong ability to work analytically, conceptually, and independently as well as strong communication and teamwork skills
• Very good German and English language skills that enable you to teach courses and supervise students

General Information:

With eight AI professorships and the Bamberg Center for Artificial Intelligence (BaCAI), the University of Bamberg offers a broad research environment in artificial intelligence.

The University of Bamberg strives to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore strongly encourages qualified women to apply. Applicants with severe disabilities (m/f/d) will be given preferential consideration if their suitability and qualifications are otherwise essentially equal. The University of Bamberg has been certified by the Hertie Foundation as a family-friendly university. It is particularly committed to supporting the balance between family and working life.

Application:

Please send your application with complete and informative supporting documents consisting of

• letter of motivation (including your motivation for pursuing a doctorate and your interest in the advertised research area; your contribution to the content and technical aspects of a relevant project)
• CV
• academic certificates and transcripts of records for your Bachelor's and Master's degrees
• copies of your Bachelor's and Master's theses

by email (combined into a single PDF file, max. 10 MB), stating your earliest possible starting date and the reference number "MII-202611-ROB", to the following address: jobs.mii(at)uni-bamberg.de

Please note that we can only consider applications that meet the above requirements.

Application Deadline: 29 November 2026

Contact:

University of Bamberg
Multimodal Intelligent Interaction
96045 Bamberg
E-Mail: jobs.mii(at)uni-bamberg.de
Homepage: www.uni-bamberg.de/mii