Australia France Network of Doctoral Excellence (AUFRANDE Program), DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENCE ON A GROUP OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS UNDER RESOURCE AND COMMUNICATION CONSTRAINTS

We are seeking one outstanding candidates for PhD scholarships for an EU-funded project AUFRANDE: DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENCE ON A GROUP OF AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS UNDER RESOURCE AND COMMUNICATION CONSTRAINTS. This exciting project is a partnership between Flinders University and Institut Mines Telecom Atlantique (IMT), France.

This project will investigate efficient reasoning processes, communication strategies and underlying low-level control mechanisms necessary to coordinate heterogeneous teams of autonomous marine vehicles, in dynamic and uncertain environments. In this work, the autonomous agents must achieve a common agreement, via a negotiation procedure, in order to solve complex problems collaboratively. Under this collaborative framework, each agent will have distinct resources, abilities, viewpoints, and priorities. We expect this solution to be general enough to allow for heterogeneous teams operating across air, surface, and underwater domains, and also between artificial and human agents. Therefore, our aim is the development of a mixed-initiative system, where the interaction and negotiation between the agents will maximise their resources to optimise the successful execution of a common task.

As an AUFRANDE researcher you will:

• Be enrolled in doctoral programs at two entities in France and Australia, with the chance to be awarded dual doctorates
• Work on innovative projects of high commercial and societal value
• Be recruited under a French employment contract, including social security coverage
• Be employed full-time for a minimum period of 36-months
• Earn an above French national-standard salary
• See the world with once-in-a-lifetime experiences, including at least 6 to 12 months residential stay in Australia and 6 to 12 months residential stay in France
• Form part of a rich multidisciplinary network of researchers and supervisors coming together in annual, autumn training schools in France and Australia
• Work closely and gain experience with the AUFRANDE’s pool of industry leaders Proposer to advise if an extension is possible

AUFRANDE is a PhD training program for talented researchers of any age, nationality, culture, gender, and sexual orientation, co-funded by the European Union as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). Candidates applying for an open position must fulfil all the following eligibility criteria:

• Be Eligible to be admitted to admitted to a PhD PhD admission requirements
• Not have been awarded a doctoral degree. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will NOT be considered eligible to apply; and
• Not have resided in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the call’s deadline* (i.e. from 11 April 2020); and
• Not be already permanently employed by the research host for the position you are applying to; and
• Fulfil the requirements to enrol in a doctoral program at both PhD-awarding institutions in France and Australia (as described in each position description); and
• Meet the English language requirements of the University.

* Time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention (1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol), compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.

NB: If you do not meet all conditions, your application will be rejected. For complete eligibility details, including special circumstances and evidence to be submitted, check the Guide for applicants.