Doctoral students in Computer Vision/Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving

“Our School and research environment is in a very exciting and expansive phase.

It is a large research environment with a strong international character. The goal is to be a nationally leading environment within, among other things, applied AI” – Magnus Clarin, Dean of the School of Information Technology.

Halmstad University
Halmstad University adds value, drives innovation and prepares people and society for the future. Since the beginning in 1983, the University has been characterised as forward-thinking and collaborative. Halmstad University offers popular and reality-based education programmes. The research is profiled within two focus areas: Health Innovation and Smart Cities and Communities. The research at Halmstad University is internationally renowned and is pursued in multidisciplinary innovation and research programs. The University takes an active part in the development of society through extensive and recognised collaboration with both the private and public sector.

More information about working at Halmstad University: https://hh.se/english/about-the-university/vacant-positions.html


The School of Information Technology
Halmstad University consists of four interdisciplinary Schools and the current position is located at the School of Information Technology (ITE). ITE is a multicultural school with around 130 employees from 20 different countries. It is a strong research and education environment, with focus on smart technology and its applications. Students and researchers are working with everything from AI and information driven care to autonomous vehicles, social robotics and digital design. ITE offers education on all levels, from undergraduate to PhD education, plus education for professional. Research is conducted within aware intelligent systems, smart electronic systems, cyber physical systems and digital service innovation. These four areas constitute the four technology areas of ITE. An innovation centre for information driven care called Leap for Life is connected to ITE, as well as a collaboration arena for electronic development, Electronics Centre in Halmstad (ECH).

More information about the School of Information Technology: http://www.hh.se/ite-en

Description
The selected PhD students will carry out research on developing AI-based novel sensor denoising and adaptive fusion approaches to have robust in-vehicle perception algorithms for autonomous vehicles.  More specifically, the PhD works involve the following topics:

- Developing a novel generative deep neural network model to detect, identify, and filter out noisy Camera, LiDAR, and RADAR readings affected by rain, fog, snow, and slush.
- Developing a novel adaptive sensor fusion algorithm based on optimum cost-effective sensor combinations to handle possible sensor failures in a multi sensor setup.
The PhD positions are offered in the frame of a Horizon Europe project https://www.hh.se/english/research/our-research/research-at-the-school-of-information-technology/technology-area-aware-intelligent-systems/research-projects-within-aware-intelligent-systems/roadview---robust-automated-driving-in-extreme-weather.html (Robust Automated Driving in Extreme Weather) coordinated by Prof. Aksoy from Halmstad University.

The selected PhD students will be responsible for conducting research within the ROADVIEW project and for participating in the required PhD course activities. The employments also includes teaching responsibilities corresponding to a maximum of 20% of full-time. Applicants will be part of an international workgroup and an English-speaking environment. 

This is two full-time positions available from September 2022 for a period of four years. Enough resources to fund experiments and conference travels are available.

Work environment
The position is at CAISR (Center for Applied Intelligent Systems Research), which is a long-term research program on intelligent systems at the School of Information Technology at Halmstad University. The focus of the centre is on aware intelligent systems, computer systems that are human aware, situation aware and to some extent “self-aware". This means systems that can communicate with humans, systems that can be aware of human intentions, systems that can fuse information and be aware of the situation and not just individual sensor readings, and systems that can be self-monitoring.

Qualifications
The ideal candidate has a Master’s degree in computer science, machine learning, robotics, mathematics, or a related engineering discipline. A strong background in computer vision, machine learning,  artificial intelligence, data mining, or signal processing is desirable. Excellent programming skills, analytical problem solving and organizational abilities are required. Prior practical experience in deep learning is a plus.

Students expecting to finalize their degree in the coming months are also welcome to apply. Only those who are or have been admitted to third-cycle courses and study programmes at a higher education may be appointed to doctoral studentships. (The Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 Section 3). The student’s ability to benefit from doctoral studies will be taken into account when we make the appointment. (The Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 Section 5).

Salary
Doctoral students are employees of the University and paid a salary according to a uniform salary scale, adjusted in relation to the progress in education.

The positions includes studies up to a doctoral degree and is annually extended in accordance with the The Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5 Section 7. The total employment period is four years but may be extended to a maximum of five years if the student performs 20% teaching or other tasks within the university.

Application
Applications should be sent via Halmstad University's recruitment system Varbi (see link on this page). 
https://www.hh.se/english/about-the-university/vacant-positions/how-to-apply.html

General Information
We value the qualities that gender balance and diversity bring to our organization. We therefore welcome applicants with different backgrounds, gender, functionality and, not least, life experience.

 Read more about Halmstad University at http://hh.se/english/discover/discoverhalmstaduniversity.9285.html