[Jobs] – Five Post Doc / Assistant Researcher positions in Robotics and Internet of Things at University of Florence, Italy

The University of Florence is seeking candidates with strong research potential, interested in studies, research and developments of robotic and IoT solutions in biomedical applications.

Job description:
The selected candidates will join a team at the BioRobotics and Biomedical Laboratory of the Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Italy in the context of 1) the Horizon Europe Framework Program (HORIZON) project “PHARAON: Pilots for Active and Healthy Ageing”, 2) the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) project PE8-Spoke9 “Age-IT: Advanced gerontechnology solutions for active and healthy ageing”, and 3) the research project “DESTINI: behavioural robot model with advanced cognitive/physical interaction”. This is an exciting opportunity to join our team and participate in a biomedical and technological area of research, and in the process collaborate with many partners at the international level.

Nowadays IoT and robotic technologies are experimenting with an increasing number of opportunities to be exploited in several scenarios of daily living, from the home to the city and at work. This trend comes with several multidisciplinary scientific challenges, covering both technological fields and clinical areas related to neurodegenerative diseases, neuropsychology and various chronic diseases. Particularly, the integration of Robotics, the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence is an interesting approach that enables the possibility to design and develop new frontiers in personalized and precision medicine, cognitive frailty and cooperative robotics.

In this context, we are seeking motivated candidates that will develop, implement and experiment with possible scenarios and challenges of integrating BioRobotics and IoT technologies in healthcare and active and healthy ageing applications. The design and implementation of these technologies address bioengineering and clinical aspects, from early diagnosis and objective assessment of diseases to rehabilitation, monitoring and therapeutic control and adaptation. Moreover, new developments and advancements in social robots with their interacting capabilities, wearable sensors, and artificial intelligence approaches will represent the main research topics and challenges that will be faced.

*** Position #1 ***
Assistant researcher / Postdoc researcher in human-robot interaction
Duration: 2 years (automatically renewable )
Start date: October – November 2023
Number of positions: 2
Annual Gross Salary: 24.000€ – 33.000€, based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience

##Key Responsibilities
The successful candidate is expected to work in a multi-disciplinary research team, pursuing an outstanding track record of published research and promoting high research impact on the following topics:
>> Social robotics and advanced human-robot interaction, including affective computing, gesture recognition, proximity, social navigation, and conversational agents.
>> Behavioral robot modelling, reasoning and decision-making by applying knowledge-based and/or machine-learning techniques.
>> Robotic perception and context awareness development by using IoT solutions, particularly wearable sensors, combined with machine learning techniques.
>> Teleoperation in robotics

##Skills, knowledge, and experience
The candidate is requested to satisfy some of the following criteria based on his/her experience and maturity:
>> Programming skills in C/C++, Python
>> Programming skills in Robot Operating System (ROS / ROS2)
>> Knowledge or experience in using machine learning and deep learning libraries (e.g. PyTorch, Matlab, etc.)
>> Knowledge or experience in developing applications on physical or simulated robots (e.g. Gazebo, Vrep, etc.)
>> Knowledge or experience in control and automation

*** Position #2 ***
Assistant researcher / Postdoc researcher in Internet of Things or embedded systems
Duration: 2 years (automatically renewable )
Start date: October – November 2023
Number of positions: 3
Annual Gross Salary: 24.000€ – 33.000€, based on the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience

# Key responsibilities
The successful candidate is expected to work in a multi-disciplinary research team, pursuing an outstanding track record of published research and promoting high research impact on the following topics:
>> Algorithms for the measurement of kinematic and physiological parameters of humans
>> Novel techniques and approaches of machine learning for movement analysis, particularly in chronic diseases
>> Integration and deployment of software architectures for web/cloud-based applications

# Skills, knowledge, and experience
The candidate is requested to satisfy some of the following criteria based on his/her experience and maturity:
>> Programming skills in C/C++, Python
>> Programming skills for GUI (e.g. Visual Studio, Eclipse, Qt, etc.)
>> Knowledge or experience in using machine learning and deep learning libraries (e.g. PyTorch, Matlab, etc.)
>> Firmware for STM32 uC, including Bluetooth 5.x modules
>> Knowledge of computer architectures and embedded systems
>> Knowledge or experience in IoT and Cloud technologies and tools
>> Database implementation and management

In addition, the selected candidates are supposed to work on preparing reports for dissemination as well as on the scientific management of the projects.

The project will be carried out in the sector of the Biomedical and BioRobotics Laboratory of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Florence, Italy. Our Lab is located in Florence, very close to train and tram stations and directly connected to the main research hospitals and rehabilitation centres, with which projects will be jointly developed.

Within the assistant researcher profiles, it is possible to participate in a PhD program of 3 years on BioRobotics and Biomedical topics.
For submitting candidature and further information on the positions or about the Laboratory, please contact Prof. Filippo Cavallo (filippo.cavallo@unifi.it).