Do you want to develop your research and teaching in an environment where collaboration with industry and society is a matter of course? With us, you will work with dedicated colleagues, access to modern research infrastructure and good opportunities to attract external funding. You are given the space to make a real difference for your students, your research and society at large.

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, RAI, at the Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering at Luleå University of Technology is now looking for a researcher to contribute to our growing activities. The RAI team conducts basic and fundamental research in all aspects of robotics with a specific focus on airborne, space, and bio-inspired robotics.

Description of the subject

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence aims to develop new robotic systems characterized by advanced autonomy to improve the ability of robots to interact with the environment and humans during the performance of specific tasks.

Project description

RAI's vision is to close the gap between theory and reality and the team has a strong background in field robotics. Application areas we focus on are robotics for mines, airborne inspection of aging infrastructure, multi-robot search and rescue for emergency services and the like. Furthermore, we work on multi-sensor fusion and multi-robot coordination, which includes ambient perception, decentralization and execution of specified missions for multi-robot systems.

Duties

The duties of a researcher are essentially research. Teaching and pedagogical development work may be included in the duties with up to 20% of working time. You will carry out research with substantial experimental elements, which should be published in peer-reviewed international academic journals as well as major conferences. The tasks include supervision of PhD and MSc students, teaching and support in obtaining funds for future research projects from research funding agencies/councils, EU projects, or industry.

You will work in the field of airborne robotics and their activities will link with national, European and World Wide R&D projects.

Characteristic research topics will focus on, but not be limited to, the following areas, where evidence of previous work with experimentally verified results is necessary:

Research Topics: Field robotics with a focus on extreme environments

• Navigation through unknown environments
  • Fast dynamics-based planning
  • Semantic-based exploration
  • Source localization
• Perception in sensor-degraded environments:
  • Localization in smoke and dust-filled environments
  • Scene understanding
  • Biometric/triage evaluations, etc.
• Mission specific modules such as autonomous firefighting, sampling, rescue operations or large scale mission planning.

Qualifications

To be eligible for employment, a PhD or equivalent foreign degree in control engineering or related subject is required. It is an advantage if your degree was obtained no more than three years before the closing date for applications for this position. If there are special reasons, those who have obtained a PhD earlier may be considered, e.g. in case of various types of statutory leaves.

The research tasks require a solid mathematical background with proven advanced experimental capabilities and excellent programming skills (e.g. C++, ROS, Matlab, etc.). You should have a strong vision for evaluating and demonstrating the research results in real field and industrial conditions, with an approach that reduces the gap between pure theory and experimental verification. You will be required to represent the group in various contexts, both in Sweden and abroad, hence very good knowledge of English is a requirement.

Information

The position is limited to one year full-time starting September 1, 2026 until August 31, 2027. Location Luleå.

For further information, please contact:

George Nikolakopoulos, Professor and Head of Department 0920-491298, mailto:geonik@ltu.se

Technical representatives:

SACO-S Diana Chroneer, 0920-49 2037 mailto:diana.chroneer@ltu.se

OFR-S Marika Vesterberg, 0920-49 1721 mailto:marika.vesterberg@ltu.se

Application

We prefer you to apply for the position via the application button below where you attach a cover letter, a detailed CV with list of publications and full description of your scientific merits, a rough research plan with respect to the described research topics, list of successful grant applications or participation in research projects, at least 2 references, formal copies of verified and translated diplomas and PhD degree. Please mark your application with the reference number below. Both the application and the degree certificate should be written in Swedish or English.

Date for application: June 8, 2026

Reference number: 3169-2026