PhD Student Position

Publiceringsdatum: 2025-05-26

Ett spännande jobb som doktorand hos Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB väntar på dig - varför inte söka idag? Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB söker någon som vill arbeta heltid under 6 månader eller längre. Kanske är det du? För detta jobb är det en fördel om du bor i närheten av Göteborg då det är tjänsteorten.

Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB söker för närvarande efter ambitiösa individer som vill utvecklas i rollen som doktorand. Kolla in deras ledig tjänst och se om du har vad som krävs för att bli en del av deras team. Här är chansen att bli en del av Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB och jobba som doktorand! Ansök senast onsdag den nionde juli 2025.

Jobbannons

PhD Student Position in Safe, Interpretable, Learning-Based Motion Planning and Control

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to advance safe and transparent control for autonomous, over-actuated electric vehicles. You will work at the intersection of model predictive control and machine learning to tackle the complexity of force allocation and motion planning under uncertainty and actuator failures. The project combines theoretical research in stochastic optimal control with real-world applications, in collaboration with Volvo Cars and Volvo Group. This is an ideal position for candidates interested in interpretable AI, safety guarantees, and high-impact research in safe and sustainable mobility.

Research environment

The position is located at the Systems and Control division, with extensive collaboration with the Vehicle Safety Division and the Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems division.

We offer advanced PhD courses where we extend the fundamentals in optimal control, machine learning, probability theory and similar. The research and learning environment is international and English is the working language. If Swedish is not your native language and you are interested in learning it, Chalmers offers Swedish courses that are free for PhD students. Although the knowledge of Swedish is not mandatory for teaching and research, many PhD students decide to follow these courses.

Responsibilities

As a PhD student, your primary responsibility is to conduct high-quality research on interpretable and learning-based stochastic optimal control for over-actuated electric vehicles, with a focus on ensuring robustness and fail-safe operation. You will:

• Develop modular, scalable, and transparent control algorithms suitable for real-time implementation across different vehicle platforms.
• Contribute to theoretical developments in stochastic model predictive control and its integration with learning-based motion prediction under uncertainty.
• Validate methods through simulation and collaboration with industrial partners (Volvo Cars and Volvo Group).
• Publish results in leading journals and present at international conferences.

Qualifications

To be eligible for this position, you must have (or be close to completing) a Master’s degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in Applied Mathematics, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. A strong mathematical foundation and excellent academic performance are expected.

Required qualifications:

• Proficiency in programming (primarily Python or MATLAB)
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, including the ability to work across research groups and disciplines
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Experience with optimal control theory and methods

Contract terms

The position is regarded as a full-time employment with a competitive monthly salary and full social benefits. It is limited to maximum 5 years and includes teaching at the undergraduate and MSc level, up to 20% of full time. There are no tuition fees for PhD studies at Chalmers.

The expected starting date is September 2025. While a slightly later start may be possible, we prefer the position to commence before November 2025.

What we offer

• The PhD position is fully funded from start
• As a PhD student at Chalmers, you are an employee and enjoy all employee benefits. Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.
• A dynamic and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg.
• A starting salary of 34,550 SEK per month (valid from May 25, 2025).

Chalmers is dedicated to improving gender balance and actively works with equality projects, such as the GENIE Initiative for gender equality and excellence.

Discover more

Find more general information about doctoral studies at Chalmers here. 

How to apply

The application should be written in English and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name)

• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name)

1-3 pages where you:

• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:

• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates.

Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered.

Application deadline:  9 July, 2025

For questions, please contact:

Prof. Nikolce Murgovski, Systems and Control

nikolce.murgovski@chalmers.se,

+46-31-772-4800

Senior Researcher, Mats Jonasson, Vehicle Engineering and Autonomous Systems

mats.jonasson@chalmers.se

+46-31-772-1373

Researcher Jordanka Kovaceva, Vehicle Safety

jordanka.kovaceva@chalmers.se

+46-31-772-1266

• ** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***