Openings at Advanced Robotics

Post-Doc positions in Haptics and Hands for Humanoid Robotics

The Department of Advanced Robotics at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, an English-language research institute, in collaboration with the Interdepartmental Research Center "E. Piaggio" of the University of Pisa, has a Post-doc opening in the area of Haptics and Hands for Humanoid Robotics.

The successful candidate will work on the advancement of the understanding of the "hand" as the cognitive organ of active touch, of the role of its physical embodiment in its explorative and manipulative abilities, and on the application of theoretical results in the design of a new generation of hands to be integrated in a new humanoid robot under development at IIT. The work will be in the framework of the European Research Council Advanced Grant ERC-AG SOFTHANDS (A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands), whose principal investigator is Prof. Antonio Bicchi.

We are seeking highly motivated and talented candidates with a Ph.D. in Robotics or related fields, with a background in robotic manipulation and control. Research at the interface with cognitive science, human movement science, and bioengineering is foreseen to be instrumental for the project: the candidate need not be an expert in all fields, but should be willing to enlarge her/his scope as the project needs and opportunities will unfold. The successful candidate will cooperate towards the project goals in autonomy, also through supervision of Ph.D. students. A strong interest in undertaking innovative, ambitious, high-risk/high-payoff research enterprises is a must. The cosmopolitan research environment further requires mastering the English language in both speaking and writing. Gradually acquiring the basics of the Italian language will make the experience of living in Italy more enjoyable, though this is not a requirement.

Desired qualifications:

PhD degree in Robotics or related fields
Experience in robotic manipulation analysis and synthesis
Experience in haptics and human-robot interaction
Experience in working in multidisciplinary groups with cognitive and human movement scientists and bioengineers
Creativity and proactive attitude
Capability of independent thinking and autonomous organization
Ability in tutoring and supervising Ph.D. and Master's students
High quality publication record
Fluency in both spoken and written English

Salary is at a worldwide competitive level, and will depend on the candidate's experience. Policies provide additional pension and health benefits. Applicants may also qualify for reduced taxes benefits.

Contract is for 2 years with a possible renewal and future career options upon successful completion. Expected start date will be June 1st, 2012.

IIT is located in Genoa, Italy, a seaside Mediterranean city set on the beautiful Italian Riviera, where the cost of living is much more affordable than many other European cities. International applications are encouraged and will receive logistic support with visa issues.

For more information on the scientific environment and to discuss the research program (which will have to be tailored to the successful candidate's own experience and interests), please contact:

Antonio Bicchi ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

For administrative issues, please contact:

Laura Maley ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Floriana Sardi ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

To apply, please submit a detailed CV, a statement of motivation, copies of degree certificates, grade transcripts, contact information of at least two references, and other support materials such as reference letters. Please send this info as a single PDF file by email:

Subject: Application SOFTHANDS Postdoc Position

To: Antonio Bicchi ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Cc: Laura Maley ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Cc: Floriana Sardi ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

For consideration, please apply by: March 1st, 2012

In order to comply with the Italian law (art. 23 of Privacy Law of the Italian Legislative Decree n. 196/03), we have to kindly ask the candidate to give his/her consent to allow IIT to process his/her personal data.

We inform you that the information you provide will be used solely for the purpose of assessing your professional profile to meet the requirements of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.

Your data will be processed by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, with headquarters in Genoa, Via Morego 30, acting as the Data Holder, using computer and paper based means, observing the rules on protection of personal data, including those relating to the security of data.

Please also note that, pursuant to art.7 of Legislative Decree 196/2003, you may exercise your rights at any time as a party concerned by contacting the Data Manager.

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively seeks diversity in the workforce.

Post-Doc Position in Microsurgical Robotics: Teleoperation and User Interfaces

The Department of Advanced Robotics at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), an English-language research institute, has a post-doc opening in the area of robotic microsurgery.

The successful candidates will be part of the new European research project µRALP (Micro-Technologies and Systems for Robot-Assisted Laser Phonomicrosurgery). This is a 3-year collaboration project started in January 2012 involving five institutions: IIT (Italy), FEMTO-ST (France), UniGe/San Martino Hospital (Italy), Leibniz Universität Hannover (Germany) and the University Hospital of Besançon (France). At the IIT, the key researchers involved include Prof. Darwin Caldwell, Prof. Brian Davies, Prof. Edward Grant and Dr. Leonardo Mattos.

We are seeking highly motivated and talented candidates who wish to contribute to the development and experimental validation of teleoperation systems and user interfaces for robotic microsurgery. The successful candidate will be responsible for proposing and creating new setups for precise and intuitive teleoperation of a surgical laser during minimally invasive procedures. In addition, he/she will undertake extensive experimentation with the new and existing teleoperation systems, including manage the recruitment of test subjects, data collection, and analysis of the experimental results.

Research in this area will benefit from a variety of robotic platforms and state of the art equipment available in the Department of Advanced Robotics, including motorized laser micromanipulators, a variety of haptic devices (e.g. Phantom Omni, Force Dimension Omega, custom systems), joysticks and joypads, a surgical microscope, 3D monitors, motions tracking systems, a fully equipped virtual reality room, etc.

The research will be conducted within the Biomedical Robotics Group. Contract will be up to 3 years with respect to the duration of the project. Salaries will depend on experience, with policies providing additional pension and health benefits. Applicants may also qualify for reduced tax benefits. Expected starting date is negotiable, but preferably within the first quarter of 2012.

For further information please contact: Prof. Darwin Caldwell ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Dr. Leonardo Mattos ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

IIT is located in Genoa, Italy, a seaside Mediterranean city set on the beautiful Italian Riviera, where the cost of living is more affordable than in many other European cities. International applications are encouraged and will receive logistic support with visa issues.

Application Requirements:

PhD degree
High quality publication record
Strong interest in medical robotics
High level of competence in one or more of the following:
- Teleoperation systems for robotic applications
- Software development: C/C++/C#, multi-threading, communication networks
- Real-time systems
- 3D imaging and graphics
- Human-computer interfaces (HCI)
- Planning, setup, execution and analysis of experiments involving human subjects
Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams
Fluency in written and spoken English

Application Procedure:

To apply, please send a detailed CV, a statement of motivation, contact information of at least two references, and other relevant support materials to Prof. Darwin Caldwell ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Dr. Leonardo Mattos ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) quoting [uRALP] in the email. The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

We inform you that the information you provide will be used solely for the purpose of assessing your professional profile to meet the requirements of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.

Please also note that, pursuant to art.7 of Legislative Decree 196/2003, you may exercise your rights at any time as a party concerned by contacting the Data Manager.

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively seeks diversity in the workforce.

Post Doc in Machine Learning for Robot Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV)

The Department of Advanced Robotics at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, has 2 Post Doc openings in the research areas of Reinforcement learning and Imitation learning applied to robot control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV).

The successful candidates will participate in a 3-year research project funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-ICT, STREP, Cognitive Systems and Robotics) called "PANDORA" (Persistent Autonomy through learNing, aDaptation, Observation and ReplAnning) which will start in January 2012.

The project is a collaboration of five universities and institutes in Europe: Heriot Watt University (UK), Italian Institute of Technology (Italy), University of Girona (Spain), King's College London (UK), and National Technical University of Athens (Greece).

The accepted candidates will contribute to the development and experimental validation of novel reinforcement learning and imitation learning algorithms for specific application to robot control of autonomous underwater vehicles.

The research work includes conducting experiment with AUVs in water tanks in collaboration with the other project partners. The developed machine learning algorithms will also be applied for other robots available at IIT, such as the compliant humanoid robot COMAN, the humanoid robot iCub, Barrett WAM manipulator arm, and KUKA LWR arm robot.

The research will be conducted within the "Learning and Interaction Group" with team leaders: Dr. Petar Kormushev and Dr. Sylvain Calinon.

The salary will depend on the candidate's experience. Policies provide additional pension and health benefits. Applicants may also qualify for reduced taxes benefits. Contracts will be for the duration of the project. Expected starting date is March 2012.

International applications are encouraged and will receive logistic support with visa issues. For further information please contact: Dr. Petar Kormushev ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Application Requirements:

PhD degree in Computer Science, Mathematics or Engineering
High-quality publication record
Strong interest in machine learning algorithms
Strong competencies in some of these areas: machine learning, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, MATLAB and C/C++ programming
Experience in robot control is a plus
Fluency in both spoken and written English

Application Procedure:

To apply please send a detailed CV, a statement of motivation, degree certificates, grade of transcripts, contact information of at least two references, and other support materials such as reference letters to: Dr. Petar Kormushev ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and Dr. Sylvain Calinon ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), quoting [PANDORA] in the email subject.

For consideration, please apply by: January 29th, 2012

We inform you that the information you provide will be used solely for the purpose of assessing your professional profile to meet the requirements of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia.

Please also note that, pursuant to art.7 of Legislative Decree 196/2003, you may exercise your rights at any time as a party concerned by contacting the Data Manager.

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively seeks diversity in the workforce.