About the position
Position as PhD Research Fellow in Robotics available at the Department of Technology Systems.
Starting date no later than 15th of August 2026.
The fellowship period is three years.
A fourth year may be considered and it will involve 25 % of other career-promoting work. Other career-promoting work may consist of teaching, supervision, and/or research assistance. This is dependent upon the qualification of the applicant and the current needs of the department.
No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.
Place of work is the Department of Technology Systems at Kjeller, Oslo.
Job description
This position is part of The Norwegian Centre for Embodied AI (NCEI), one of Norway’s six national AI centres. NCEI brings together leading robotics and AI groups with key partners from industry and the public sector to study how intelligence emerges from the interaction between body, computation, and environment, across flying, ground, and aquatic robot configurations. Our mission is to chart a generalisable path for physical AI and transform how robot morphology and autonomy are co-designed, enabling new generations of systems tailored to their operational environments and missions. You will join an international community with world-class facilities and strong collaborations across Norwegian universities, research institutes, industry, public agencies, and leading global institutions.
The PhD fellow will work on co-design of morphology and control, with an emphasis on testing on real-world platforms. This includes building a physical robot system that can be used in the project to explore iterative evolution of not only the way a robot acts, but also its physical body. They will build on the work done by others in simulation on virtual robots, and provide a physical robot that can help test how the proposed approaches react to real-world environments.
What the PhD fellow will work on, in collaboration with the rest of the team:
• Design and build physical robots that can be mechanically reconfigured and iteratively improved.
• Integrate and test autonomy stacks (perception, learning, planning) on physical robots.
• Use evolutionary algorithms to optimize both the robot’s body and brain together.
• Apply quality-diversity methods to discover a wide range of high-performing designs • Run experiments across classes of environments (e.g., forests, industrial facilities, underwater caves) and missions (e.g., exploration, surveillance, object search and recovery).
• Collaborate closely with the rest of the NCEI center working on simulation, learning, and planning to ensure successful transfer from virtual to real-world systems.
• Document results, publish in top venues, and contribute to open-source tools where possible.
What skills are important in this role ?
Qualification requirements:
The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe’s leading communities for research, education and innovation. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.
• Master’s degree or equivalent in robotics, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or similar fields. Foreign completed degrees (M.Sc.-level) must correspond to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system
• Experience with designing and building robots or mechatronics systems, preferably using rapid prototyping techniques like 3D printing
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
• The candidate must fulfil the requirements for a Norwegian security clearance
Candidates without a master’s degree have until 1st of July 2026 to complete the final exam.
Desired qualifications:
• Interest in evolutionary algorithms and optimization. Experience with quality-diversity methods is a plus.
• Experience with machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• Strong programming skills (e.g., Python, C++), and familiarity with ROS or similar frameworks.
• Experience with simulation tools like Isaac and sim-to-real transfer.
• Demonstrated interest and enthusiasm for robotics and related technologies.
• Previous involvement in research projects (with or without publication).
Language requirement:
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
• English requirements for applicants from outside of EU/ EEA countries and exemptions from the requirements:
https://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/regulations/regulations.html#toc8
Grade requirements:
The norm is as follows:
- the average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
- the average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
- the Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. For more information see:
http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/
All candidates and projects will have to undergo a check versus national export, sanctions and security regulations. Candidates may be excluded based on these checks. Primary checkpoints are the Export Control regulation, the Sanctions regulation, and the national security regulation.
What are we looking for in you?
• Ability to collaborate with a large interdisciplinary team.
• Hands-on mindset and comfortable working across different hardware and software.
• Willingness to learn and adapt to emerging technologies and methodologies within the field
• A strong desire to explore new ideas, ask questions, and pursue innovative solutions
• Ability to remain motivated and focused even when faced with challenges or failures
• The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame
Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including skill
We need different perspectives in our work
UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.
We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues—could you be the next one?
We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.
If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).
The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports.
More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.
We hope you will apply for the position with us.
We can offer you
- A pleasant and stimulating work environment
- Good welfare schemes.
- Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours.
- A workplace with good development and career opportunities.
- Career development programmes.
- Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, which is one of Norway's best pension schemes with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes.
- Salary in position as Doctoral Research Fellow, position code 1017 in salary range NOK from 550 800 - 595 000 , depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.
Read more about the benefits of working in the public sector at Employer Portal.
How to apply:
The application must include:
• Cover letter - statement of motivation and research interests
• A research outline of maximum 1 page that describes what the applicant wishes to focus on within the tasks described above
• CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
• Transcripts of records, copies of the original Bachelor’s and Master’s degree diploma (see below)
• Documentation of English proficiency if applicable
• Up to 3 publications or academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number
Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".
When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.
General information
The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews.
Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we cannot, you will hear from us.
Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian), Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO and Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo.
The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.
Contact persons:
For further information please contact: Associate Professor Tønnes Nygaard,
e-mail: tonnesfn@uio.no
For questions regarding Jobbnorge, please contact HR Adviser Elin Thoresen, e-mail:elin.thoresen@mn.uio.no
Om arbeidsgiveren:
The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest rated institution of research and education with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. Its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally esteemed research communities make UiO an important contributor to society.
The University of Oslo (UiO) is expanding the activity at Campus Kjeller to strengthen our education, research, and innovation in technology for a sustainable future. UiO is a well-ranked research university where the Department of Technology Systems at Kjeller (ITS) is focused on applied research in sustainable energy, autonomous systems, space, and security. At Kjeller, ITS is co-located with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI) and the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), which both offer rich opportunities for collaboration. ITS also has a range of interdisciplinary research collaborations that include the UiO Blindern Campus and Oslo Science City, as well as many other national and international institutions and industries.
ITS offers several master level programmes, alone and jointly with other departments: Renewable energy systems, Cybernetics and autonomous systems, Robotics and intelligent systems, and Information security. ITS also hosts the Centre for Space Sensors and Systems (CENSSS), which incorporates operation of an instrument on the NASA Perseverance rover on Mars. A new master program in Space systems is in the planning stage. The department currently has 9 permanent scientific staff, approximately 35 adjunct staff from the research institutes at Kjeller and from industry, as well as about 20 PhD candidates. This position is part of an ongoing expansion of the UiO activity at Campus Kjeller. Campus Kjeller is located 20 km northeast of Oslo, between the city center and Oslo Airport. It is a 20 minutes commute with public transportation from Oslo city center to the campus.
