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Postdoc/PhD Open Positions 

Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory
Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich 
(ETH Zurich) Switzerland

http://www.iris.ethz.ch/

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Postdoc/PhD positions will be available from August 2009 at my new research group, Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboraotory, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), Switzerland.

The research interests of the Bio-Inspired Robotics Lab lie at the intersection of robotics and biology. Through abstraction of the design principles of biological systems, we develop core competences which are the design and control of dynamic mechatronics systems, bionic sensor technologies, and computational optimization techniques. Our main goals are to contribute to a deeper understanding of adaptivity and autonomy of animals through the investigation of dynamic robots, and to engineer novel robotic applications which are more adaptive, resilient, and energy efficient.

These positions belong to a new government funded research project, "Bio-Inspired Motor Control for Underactuated Robotic Systems", in which we tackle with the problems of design optimization in underactuated systems, control optimization of "dynamics programmability", and dynamic embodied cognition. For more information about the background of this project, please visit my website:  http://people.csail.mit.edu/iida/

(1) Requirements
Applicants should have diploma/master degrees in one of the following disciplines, but degrees from the other areas are also considered if relevant.
* Mechanical, Electronic, Control Engineering, Robotics
* Physics, Biology, Biomechanics
* Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence

(2) Conditions
* Main duty includes research activities, lab organization, and teaching assistant
* Starting August 2009 or at your earliest convenience 
* These positions will be fully funded based on the SNF/ETHZ regulations

(3) To Apply 
Please send an email to Fumiya Iida (iida at csail.mit.edu) with your cv and a brief introduction of your research interests and plans. The selection process will be closed as soon as the positions are filled.