Postdoctoral Fellow in Nonlinear Marine Control Systems

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At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You can find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the job

The postdoctoral fellowship position is a temporary position where the main goal is to qualify for work in senior academic positions. 

The position is related to the ERC Advanced Grant project “Control of light vehicle-manipulator systems” (CRÈME). In this project we aim to develop a control framework that enables light and freely moving autonomous robots that can perform complex and versatile operations, involving highly precise and forceful physical interactions, in challenging environments. We specifically target the underwater environment, as this poses particularly severe challenges, including unmodelled time-varying hydrodynamic forces, uncertain hydrodynamic coefficients, and strong environmental disturbances.

The role of the postdoctoral fellow will be to investigate how the recent ground-breaking developments in data-driven AI can be combined with more traditional control methods to achieve further improved performance and robustness while also providing the safety guarantees that are required for the safety-critical systems that the autonomous robots considered in CRÈME constitute, but which are generally not provided by data-driven methods.

Your immediate leader is Professor Kristin Ytterstad Pettersen. 

Duties of the position

• Research into nonlinear and data-driven control of light underwater vehicle-manipulator systems to improve the performance and robustness of safety-critical operations. This includes both theoretical and experimental research work. 
• Teaching two semesters of a MSc-level course on Nonlinear Control Systems.
• Co-supervise master- and PhD-students associated with the CRÈME project.

Required selection criteria

• You must have completed a Norwegian doctoral degree or a corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian PhD in Engineering Cybernetics. Candidates who are in the process of completing their PhD studies and will defend their thesis within 31.12.2024 are also invited to apply.
• You must have a strong background and research experience in control of marine vehicles.
• You must have a strong background and research experience in advanced-level nonlinear control.
• Due to the research and teaching tasks of the position, the candidate must have good written and oral English and Norwegian language skills.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Ph.D Candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate.

Preferred selection criteria

• You have experience teaching, or as a teaching assistant in, a MSc-level course on Nonlinear Control Systems.
• You can start working on the project in early fall, as the fellowship is part of an EU project approaching its end.

Personal characteristics

• Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities. 
• We seek a candidate who is motivated and able to engage in theoretical and experimental research work, has good communication and networking skills, is proactive and forthcoming, and can take on a supporting role for the PhD students in the project.
• The desire for and qualities to teach and supervise students.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Good communication skills, both verbally and in writing.
• Team player, good at collaboration.
• Works in a structured way.
• Solution- and result-oriented.

We offer 

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment 
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues 
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund 
• employee benefits 

Salary and conditions

As a Postdoctoral Fellow (code 1352) you are normally paid from gross NOK 604 900 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund

The period of employment is 3 years.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU.  

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution on a daily basis.

About the application 

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English. 

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account, recognizing that the quantity of your research may be reduced as a result.

The application must include:

• CV and certificates 
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's-, master's- and PhD degrees. If you have not yet completed your Ph.D, you must provide confirmation on your estimated date for the doctoral dissertation, or that your PhD thesis has been submitted
• A copy of the doctoral thesis. If you are close to submitting, or have recently submitted your thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed doctoral degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Academic works – published or unpublished – that you would like to be considered in the assessment
• Research plan
• Name and contact information of minimum 2 referees. 

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well. 
 
Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint works, you must attach a brief description of your participation. 

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment – DORA. 

General information 

Working at NTNU 

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is a strength. We want our faculty and staff to reflect Norway’s culturally diverse population and we continuously seek to hire the best minds. This enables NTNU to increase productivity and innovation, improve decision making processes, raise employee satisfaction, compete academically with global top-ranking institutions and carry out our social responsibilities within education and research. NTNU emphasizes accessibility and encourages qualified candidates to apply regardless of gender identity, ability status, periods of unemployment or ethnic and cultural background.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality. 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.   

As an employee at NTNU, you must continually maintain and improve your professional development and be flexible regarding any organizational changes.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Kristin Y. Pettersen, email kristin.y.pettersen@ntnu.no . 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR consultant Berit Dahl, email berit.dahl@ntnu.no . 

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation. 

Application deadline: 12.05.2024.

DIVERSE INFO

Kilde: NAV stillingsannonser
https://arbeidsplassen.nav.no/stillinger/stilling/6680afe3-bb80-4807-b832-f0439ed43bb6
IMPORTAPI
https://www.jobbnorge.no/ledige-stillinger/stilling/262283