COeXISTENCE

Vacancies details and recruitment process below (PhD + PostDoc)

I run the ERC Starting Grant to understand the future of Urban Mobility. In COeXISTENCE, with the team of 5, we try to foresee what happens when our cities are shared with autonomous, intelligent robots - competing with us for limited resources. We create virtual environments where individual agents compete to arrive faster, more reliably and cheaper at their destinations. Human agents are simulated with detailed behavioural models, estimated and calibrated on the field data to reproduce how we behave and adapt in the cities. In the same environment the deep learning agents try the same - they use deep reinforcement learning to maximise their rewards. This creates a harsh competition in which machines have upper-hands strong enough to beat us.

COeXISTENCE is a broad and deep experiment in virtual environment on future cities, aimed to discover the new phenomena and propose the new solutions. See the brief overview here and more thorough presentation.

It spans between fields as diverse as:

• game theory
• deep reinforcement learning
• complex social systems
• sustainability
• urban mobility
• agent based modelling
• discrete choice theory

Vacancies

We offer competitve salaries: ca. 2680€ gross for a PhD (12 500 PLN/msc + yearly bonus) and 3600€ gross for a PostDoc (17 000 PLN/msc + yearly bonus) with the costs of living at ca. half of Western Europe

I am looking to hire three PhD students and a PostDoc to work on this exciting topic.

• PhD 1 with a background in deep reinforcement learning, ideally holding a master’s degree in computer science with experience in developing state-of-the-art RL models. She/he will focus on implementing RL frameworks into the agent-based models of urban mobility, he will work closely with a PostDoc of similar experience forming a core of machine-learning component of the project. OFFER

• PhD 2 with a background in modelling urban mobility, ideally holding a master’s degree in transportation engineering. She/he will focus on reproducing urban mobility in agent-based models of urban mobility. The main tasks will be to create virtual environments accurately reproducing future of urban mobility and to actively search for conflicts in the urban mobility games. OFFER

• PhD 3 with a background in computational social sciences, experienced with analysis of social systems. She/he shall have a strong experience in complex systems to cover the complexity of the mixed environment of humans and machines. She/he will introduce the behavioural component into the project, with ethical dilemmas, the trade-off between transparency and efficiency and multi-objective data-driven optimization of social systems. OFFER

• PostDoctoral researcher with experience in deep reinforcement learning and software development. She/he will work on a daily basis with the PhD students to integrate the software development process and manage the computational environment of the project. She/he will interface between hardware (nVIDIA framework) and our simulations making sure that available resources are utilized effectively. She/he will complement the PI with the skills on reinforcement learning, helpful in the challenging learning loops in multi-objective multi-agent settings. OFFER

PhD candidates and PostDoc will have excellent programming skills and background in STEM (in particular mathematics, statistics and complex systems) – enabling smooth implementation of algorithmic and theoretical concepts into the working scientific software.

Join us in Kraków, Poland

Come and join us at one of oldest universities in Europe, founded 1364 in Kraków (Poland) with Copernicus and Pope John Paul II in its alumni.

With one of leading Machine Learning groups in Central Europe (GMUM) and this prestigous ERC Starting Grant, the Jagiellonian University is the place for young scholars to grow.

Kraków is one of the most wonderful medieval cities in Poland, Europe. Its breathtaking scenery and rich history are only an invitation to this stunning nation full of modern spaces, trendy restaurants, and bars. Furthermore, the combination of the city’s housing ratings, cost of living, and healthcare are very attractive worldwide make it an ideal choice to relocate and be living in Krakow. No wonder, Krakow has become increasingly popular as an expat location in recent years. 

We can offer highly competitive salaries (western europe level with the living cost at ~50%). You will work in an exceptional working environment, active and inspirational atmoshpere, challenging and rewarding research conducted on the brand new campus of one of the oldest Universities in Europe (est. 1364) in one of the top tourist destinations worldwide (Kraków).

We offer:

• Active support in reaching scientific excellence,
• Meaningful and rewarding research program,
• Hands-on experience in the highly demanded IT and ML skills,
• Active participation in international scientific community (staff exchanges, conferences, cooperations),
• Competitive salary (ca 12 500 PLN/month – 2680€ plus bonuses).
• Bonuses, e.g. holiday allowance, yearly bonus, and optionally: sport (Benefit Multisport), private health care (PZU).
• Full-time contract for 48 months,

Application process

• These PhD positions are offered in the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences under the programme Technical Computer Science.
• There will be three consecutive recruitment process until the three positions are filled.
• Candidates need to be recommended by at least one researcher.
• Applicants are advised to send the proposals and CVs to the PI (coexistence@uj.edu.pl) for the pre-screening and potential recommendation.

Deadline:

the recruitment process will start in April and will remain opened until positions are filled (expected to be filled no later than July)

Documents:

• CV with a focus on research and academic experiences
• Research plan and motivation (2 pages max) demonstrating your fitness for this position, your research vision for the project and your role.
• Recommendation from at least one researcher (employee of any academic institution). If not available, please contact the PI for the pre-screening and possible recommendation
• Abstract of your Master Thesis (2 pages max)
• English language certificate transcript of records (B.Sc. and M.Sc. studies)

For further inquiries, please contact Dr Rafal Kucharski at coexistence@uj.edu.pl