PhD Stipends in AI Planning

PhD Stipends in AI Planning

The Technical Faculty of IT and Design, Department of Computer Science offers a number of three years fully funded PhD scholarships within the Computer Science study program. The positions are open for appointment from 1 September, 2024, or soon thereafter. The Department of Computer Science features a broad range of synergistic activities within research and education in the general area of computer science, including curiosity-driven research and targeted research in collaboration with industrial partners, as well as traditional university education, with a unique problem- and project-based focus, and continued education and knowledge dissemination.

Jobbeskrivelse
The positions are part of the project"Contrastive Analysis for State-Space Exploration" funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, as part of their Sapere Aude program, and led by Alvaro Torralba. This project will introduce a new concept to guide the planning process: Contrastive Analysis. The key idea is to give AI planning tools the ability to understand what the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative are. The hypothesis of the project is that the ability of comparing alternatives is a fundamental skill for decision making and could have a central role within planning algorithms.

The candidates will work along one or more of the following directions:

• Theoretical foundation of contrastive analysis techniques within different sub-areas of planning (classical planning, probabilistic planning, Markov Decision Processes, etc.)

• Design and development of bisimulation-based algorithms that can be used to compare states on any given planning domain

• Design and development of heuristic search algorithms that exploit contrastive analysis techniques

• In-depth theoretical and empirical analysis of the performance of these algorithms across different planning domains and applications

Detailed information about the project can be found at

The selected candidates will be part of the Distributed, Embedded and Intelligent Systems group at AAU:

REQUIREMENTS
Applicants must have a Master's degree in computer science or a closely related field. Applicants must have a strong theoretical background in one or several of the following areas: Symbolic Artificial Intelligence, Automated Planning, Heuristic Search. Good programming skills (C++ and Python) are required. Outstanding spoken and written communication skills in English are essential.

PhD stipends are normally for a 3 years period, being a requisite to have a relevant Master Degree.

Applicants who wish to apply for a 4-year integrated PhD stipend must be enrolled in a relevant Master's programme at AAU. More details below.

Details on 3-year PhD positions:
PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Master's degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1039 of August 27, 2013 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions. According to the Ministerial Order, the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time.

Details on 4-year integrated PhD positions:
There is also an option to allocate integrated PhD stipends to individuals who have not yet completed a Master's degree and wish to begin the PhD study in connection with the Master study. Hence, a prerequisite for this type of stipend is that the candidate is enrolled in a relevant Master's programme at AAU.

Stipends of this type consist of two parts: A and B. During part A, candidates are enrolled simultaneously in the Master's programme and in the PhD programme. The stipend consists of two SU-PhD grants per month (SU=The Danish students' Grants and Loans Scheme). One SU-PhD grant equals DKK level). SU-PhD grants are paid for a maximum of two years. When the Master's degree has been obtained, the candidate will be employed for two years as a PhD fellow according to the present collective agreement. Part B has a maximum duration of two years.

For further information about stipends and salary as well as practical issues concerning the application procedure, please contact Ms. Annemarie Davidsen, the Doctoral School at The Technical Faculty of IT and Design, email:

For more information of the Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design:

For more information of the Department of Computer Science:

APPLICATION
An application must contain:

1. A cover letter of max. 2 pages, including(i) motivation for applying,(ii) preferred starting date, and(iii) a brief explanation of the applicant's background and suitability for the position
2. CV
3. Diploma and transcripts of records
4. Other relevant information such as contacts of referees and/or programming portfolio(e.g., GitHub account with relevant projects)

Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Associate Professor Alvaro Torralba ) regarding the scientific aspects of the position.

PROCEDURE
Shortlisting will be applied. This means that subsequent to the deadline for applications, the head of department supported by the chair of the assessment committee will select candidates for assessment. All applicants will be informed whether they will be assessed or not.

The application is only to be submitted online by using the"Apply online" button below.

AAU wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background or belief.

Løn og ansættelsesvilkår
Appointment and salary as a PhD fellow are according to the Ministry of Finance Circular of 15 December 2021 on the Collective Agreement for Academics in Denmark, Appendix 5, regarding PhD fellows, and with the current Circular of 11 December 2019 on the employment structure at Danish universities. Allocation of SU-PhD Grants are according to the Ministerial Order on the State Educational Grant and Loan Scheme part 12, section II. This applies to integrated PhD stipends only.

Ansøgningsfrist

Ref. nummer

Afdeling
Department of Computer Science