How can robots learn everyday tasks such as tidying up an apartment or assisting humans in their everyday domestic chores?

In this PhD project, you investigate different strategies for robots to learn everyday tasks.

You apply techniques such as reinforcement learning and imitation learning in combination with large language models or vision-language models and investigate how to incorporate common sense knowledge, written task descriptions, human demonstrations and 3D scene understanding into the robotic learning process.

You will become fluent in PyTorch, one of the most versatile and widely-used deep learning frameworks in industry. You get the chance to work with a mobile robot that is equipped with a versatile arm, and set up impressive demos and experiments.

This project is supported by funding from the Australian Research Council and is done in collaboration between QUT and the University of Adelaide. You will be embedded in a team that spans both universities and will have the opportunity to travel and be co-supervised by experts from both unis.

Have a look at similar research I have been doing with my students, postdocs and colleagues.

About the Position

I am looking for a creative and enthusiastic PhD researcher to contribute to the Visual Learning and Understanding research program. You will be a member of the QUT Centre for Robotics and will work closely with academics, research fellows, engineers, and other PhD students.

You should be excited to do pioneering research in Robotic Learning and Robotic Scene Understanding

  • Scholarship: $32,500 AUD per year, tax free
  • $5,000 top-up scholarship available
  • multiple positions available
  • start date: immediately and ongoing

How to Apply

First, you should check that you are eligible to do a PhD at QUT. Then, contact me via email and include:

  • your CV, including academic transcript
  • a description of your research interests, describing the topic you are interested in, and why
  • a short summary about a previous research experience you are most proud of

I will be in touch if I think you would be a good fit for this project and for our lab.

About Us

The QUT Centre for Robotics (QCR) conducts at-scale world-leading research in intelligent robotics; translates fundamental research into commercial and societal outcomes; is a leader in education, training and development of talent to meet growing demands for expertise in robotics and autonomous systems; and provides leadership in technological policy development and societal debate. Established in 2020, the Centre has been built on the momentum of a decade’s investment in robotic research and translation at QUT which has been funded by QUT, ARC, Queensland Government, CRCs and Industry. QCR comprises over 100 researchers and engineers.

QCR researchers collaborate with industry and universities around the world, including MIT, Harvard and Oxford universities, Boeing, Thales, DST, Airservices Australia, CASA, JARUS, TRAFI, Google Deepmind, Google AI, Amazon Robotics, Caterpillar, Rheinmetall, US Air Force, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

We are proud of our beautiful and big modern lab space and research environment. We have a fantastic collection of equipment to support your research, including many mobile robot platforms and robotic arms.

The Centre supports a flexible working environment. We support a diverse and inclusive atmosphere and encourage applications from women, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people.

Location

Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Gardens Point campus, Brisbane, Australia. We are located on a beautiful campus next to the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, just a few minutes on foot from the Brisbane CBD and the bustling Southbank cultural precinct with many fantastic restaurants and bars. QUT has excellent connections to public transport, including our CityCat river ferry, trains, and bus lines. A bike path along the river connects QUT with the nearby suburbs.

Brisbane is a very liveable sub-tropical city of 2.3M people and offers great opportunities for recreational activities ranging from hiking in the many nearby national parks, rock climbing (the Kangaroo Point crag is just across the river, and there are many of well-maintained sport crags in a 1-2 hour radius around Brisbane, as well as a selection of climbing and bouldering gyms in the city), surfing (the famous Gold Coast is just over one hour away), and all things beach and ocean related.