Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Multi-Robot Scouting
University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- Institution
- University of Oxford
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Position type
- Postdoc
- Subject area
- Engineering
- Salary
- GBP 39424.00–47779.00 YEAR
- Location
- Oxford, England, United Kingdom
- Funding
- Fully funded position
Want to be the strongest applicant for this position?
Book a free 15-minute call with our team. We will look at your profile against what University of Oxford is actually looking for, and tell you honestly where you stand and what to strengthen before you apply.
Book a free call about this position →No cost, no obligation. Mentors who have secured funded PhD positions themselves.
We mentor STEM applicants only. If your research aspirations are outside STEM subjects, you're very welcome to use this board and apply directly; we just aren't the right people to mentor you.
About this position
Central Oxford
We are seeking a full-time Postdoctoral Research Assistant to join the Dynamic Robot Systems Group of the Oxford Robotics Institute and the Department of Engineering Science in central Oxford. This project is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is and is fixed-term for 24 months.
The project “TMNT – Threat Monitoring Networked Team” will develop multi-robot scouting approaches to explore and interact with a set of challenging scenarios. This project is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and is in collaboration with Autodiscovery. TMNT will focus on a team of highly mobile Unitree A2 legged/wheeled robots, equipped with manipulators, sensing and networking payloads. The project will build approaches to collaborative exploration to enable efficient mapping and monitoring of a previously unknown environment. The scenarios range from planetary exploration, with a deployment planned for the ESA Luna Facility, to industrial and commercial settings. This position will focus on using and developing learning-based perceptive approaches.
You will develop learning and/or optimization based approaches to multi-robot path and motion planning and coordination, integrating multi-modal perception and online state estimation. Part of the project will include locomotion in challenging terrain and interaction/manipulation with the environment. You will be responsible for the design, development, implementation and evaluation of multi-robot scouting methods suitable for wheeled-legged systems in physically-realistic simulated environments and on real robots.
You will hold or be close to completion of a PhD/DPhil in robotics, computer science, machine learning, informatics, AI, or a closely related field. You will have an excellent academic track record in topics relevant to locomotion and manipulation; path and motion planning, whole-body control, multi-contact manipulation/locomotion, machine learning and optimization, avatar animation or related areas. You have experience working on real robots and great team working skills.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Prof Ioannis Havoutis (email: Ioannis.havoutis@eng.ox.ac.uk
For more information about working at the Department, see www.eng.ox.ac.uk/about/work-with-us/
Only online applications received before midday on 30 September 2026 can be considered. You will be required to upload a covering letter/supporting statement, including a brief statement of research interests (describing how past experience and future plans fit with the advertised position), CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application.
The Department holds an Athena Swan Bronze award, highlighting its commitment to promoting women in Science, Engineering and Technology.
Robotics, legged/legged-wheeled, loco-manipulation, scouting, multi-robot coordination
Apply directly to University of Oxford
Emerging Scholars Council is not the employer and does not recruit for this position. It is advertised by University of Oxford, and your application goes to them. We help students prepare and strengthen their applications.
Go to the official application page →Contact listed in the advert
Some positions — especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland — are filled by writing directly to the supervisor rather than through an online form. These addresses were taken from the advert text, so check them against the official listing before you write.
A cold email to a supervisor is the highest-leverage thing you can send — and the easiest to get wrong. Ask us to look at yours before you hit send.