NEW POST-DOC POSITION

FBK is opening a Post-Doc position in the Planning Scheduling and Optimization unit.

Workplace Description FBK is a private research institution devoted to excellence in research in numerous disciplines and designated to the role of keeping the Autonomous Province of Trento in the mainstream of European and international research. Each research area is assigned to a specific research center, of which there are twelve totals. Information regarding the research centers, their activities and production is available at http://www.fbk.eu/research-centers.

The FBK Center for Digital Industry focuses its research on digital technologies for the various domains in industry (e.g., aerospace, railway, automotive, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, etc.) by creating applications for critical systems, adaptive and autonomous systems, advanced perception, diagnostics and prediction systems. It is involved in multiple European research projects and collaborates with numerous institutions and multinational companies on strategic projects with a high innovation content – including the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Railways Network (RFI).

The position is opened by the Planning Scheduling and Optimization Unit (PSO Unit) of the Digital Industry Center of FBK. The Unit carries out basic and applied research, tool development and technology transfer in the field of automated planning, discrete optimization and process scheduling with applications in autonomous robotic systems and flexible manufacturing.

Job Description The open research position is in the field of reinforcement learning for automated planning and scheduling. The STEP-RL project, funded by the ERC, aims at using modern reinforcement learning techniques to synthesize guidance of various forms (e.g. heuristics, pruning rules, macro actions, parameters configurations) for state-of-the-art automated temporal planners.

We are looking for exceptional post-doctoral researchers, passionate about the integration of learning and symbolic AI methods: the STEP-RL project will allow the selected candidate to perform full-time curiosity-driven research on the STEP-RL project themes. This is a unique opportunity to pursue basic research in the area of learning for symbolic systems, as the only expected outcomes are top-tier publications and impactful research in the planning and learning communities.

The candidate is expected to work in close collaboration with the project PI (Andrea Micheli), as well as other researchers, programmers and students involved in the unit. Moreover, the candidate is expected to help in the supervision of PhD students involved in the ERC project.

Job Requirements The ideal candidate should have:

• PhD in computer science, mathematics or electronic engineering or equivalent 3yrs research experience;
• Track record of publications in top-tiers journals and conferences;
• Software development skills (preferably Python and/or Rust);
• Ability to carry out an independent research program;
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment and deliver in research projects;
• Good communication and relational skills;
• Oral and written proficiency in English.

Elements Positively Evaluated Know-how or previous experience in at least two of the following areas:

• Automated Planning (e.g. PDDL planners);
• Reinforcement Learning;
• Model Checking or other formal verification techniques.

Employment

• Type of contract: fixed-term contract;
• Working hours: full time (38 h per week);
• Start date: indicatively May 2025;
• Duration: 12 months;
• Workplace: Povo, Trento (Italy);
• Gross annual salary: about € 44.000;

Benefits: flexi-time, company subsidized cafeteria or meal vouchers, internal car park, welcome office support for visa formalities and for research in accommodation, accommodation etc., supplementary pension and health fund, social security (SANIFONDS), family-work balance, free training courses, support on bank account opening, discount on public transport, sport, language course fees, counseling and psychological support service. More info at https://www.fbk.eu/en/work-with-us/

Application Page

Contacts

Andrea Micheli [email protected]

Deadline

2025-04-21