Doctoral student in Computational Visuospatial Cognition

Örebro University and The School of Science and Technology are looking for a doctoral student for the doctoral programme in Computer Science, specialized in Computational Visuospatial Cognition. The position is expected to conclude with a doctoral degree in Computer Science.

Project description
The broad focus of the position pertains to computational cognitive science, with a focus on the formal and cognitive foundations of human-centered AI. The specific research topics relevant to the position are declarative spatial reasoning, (computational) cognitive modelling of vision, and integration of spatial reasoning and spatial learning. Our aim with this new recruitment is to further advance our research competences at the interface of Cognition, AI, and Interaction Design with a particular focus on research in Visual and Spatial Commonsense Reasoning, Spatial Cognition and Computation, and Visual Perception.

The doctoral candidate will focus on developing the mathematical and computational foundations to represent, consistently maintain, and reason/learn about dynamic, relational knowledge about space, motion, and (embodied) multimodal interaction in everyday contexts. The methods to be developed will emphasise: 1) integration of semantic and quantitative data; 2) handling uncertain and incomplete knowledge; 3) integration of spatial reasoning and learning; and 4) human-centred explainability of mechanisms for modelling and reasoning about space-time dynamics.

The project will build on and advance recent research in spatial reasoning, cognitive vision and perception, and neurosymbolic reasoning. In particular, we aim to advance the scientific arc of our following recent publications:


• Commonsense Visual Sensemaking for Autonomous Driving: On Generalised Neurosymbolic Online Abduction Integrating Vision and Semantics. Artificial Intelligence Journal (AIJ) 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0004370221000734
• Out of Sight But Not Out of Mind: An Answer Set Programming Based Online Abduction Framework for Visual Sensemaking in Autonomous Driving. IJCAI 2019
https://www.ijcai.org/proceedings/2019/260
• How do drivers mitigate the effects of naturalistic visual complexity? - On attentional strategies and its implications under a change blindness protocol. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (CRPI), 8, Article number: 54 (2023).
https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-023-00501-1

For candidates desirous of interdisciplinary research, opportunities also exist to explore behavioural foundations of human visuospatial thinking in everyday naturalistic interaction contexts (see Artificial and Human Intelligence: https://www.codesign-lab.org/hcc/). Furthermore, external collaborations with researchers in computer science are expected, and with cognitive psychology are highly encouraged. We expect the basic research outcomes of this project to be applicable in a wide range of computational cognitive systems contexts including but not limited to autonomous vehicles, cognitive robots, digital media systems, building architecture design systems. Interest in one or more of these or other relevant applications will be an added advantage.

The programme, doctoral studentship, entry requirements and selection
To see the job advertisement in its entirety visit https://www.oru.se/english/career/available-positions/.

Information
For more information about the programme and the doctoral studentship, please contact Prof. Mehul Bhatt, e-mail: mehul.bhatt@oru.se , or Prof. Lars Karlsson, +46 19303355, e-mail: lars.Karlsson@oru.se.

Örebro University actively pursues equal opportunities and gender equality as well as a work environment characterized by openness, trust and respect. We value the qualities that diversity adds to our operations.

Application to the programme and for the doctoral studentship
The application is made online. Click the button “Apply” to begin the application procedure.

For the application to be complete, the following electronic documents must be included:


• The form Application for / decision on admission to research studies
• CV, including names of one to (max) two academic referees who may be contacted
• Original certificate and official transcript for Bachelor's degree
• Original certificate and official transcript for Master's degree
• Degree project/independent project
• Other relevant documents, course and degree certificates verifying eligibility
• Motivation statement or Description of research interests detailing the field of research you are interested in, including, if applicable, theoretical and methodological approaches (2-3 pages).

As a main rule, application documents and attachments are to be written in English, Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian. Certificates, transcripts and documents in other languages verifying your qualifications and experience must be translated by an authorised translator to English or Swedish. A list of authorised translators can be obtained from Kammarkollegiet (the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency), www.kammarkollegiet.se/engelska/start.

When you apply for admission, you automatically also apply for a doctoral studentship. More information for applicants will be found on our career site:  https://www.oru.se/english/career/available-positions/applicants-and-external-experts/

The application deadline is October 9, 2023. We look forward to receiving your application!

As we have already made our choices in terms of external collaboration partners and marketing efforts for this recruitment process, we decline any contact with recruitment agencies and advertisers.

As directed by the National Archives of Sweden (Riksarkivet), we are required to deposit one file copy of the application documents, excluding publications, for a period of two years after the appointment decision has gained legal force.