Three PhD positions on Computational Models of Well-Being

HONDA and Utrecht University (UU) join forces to computationally model human mood, personality, and empathy in the quest to achieve natural human-robot interaction. As interface between humans and robot, several signals will be considered (e.g., ECG, speech, and video). Your models and data processing will be founded on a solid formal foundation and validated empirically on their robustness and ability to generalize. As a PhD-student you coach students, complete a personalized set of courses, and develop technical and conceptual skills. You learn to present, advertise your work, and communicate with media. As we consider it as key that our researchers enjoy their work, you have the freedom to follow your own interests within the project.
You will join a team of 8 PhD-students, embedded in a department with dozens of PhD-students. You will execute your own PhD-project in close cooperation with the other two PhD-students in this project. Moreover, you will also collaborate with several of the other PhD-students, who study a similar topic. You will have the opportunity to visit the HONDA Research Institute and/or become a trainee at their facilities. This is optional and can be short visits or a longer period. You will also become member of a larger international research group, allowing visits to multiple other labs as well.

In this position, supplementary to your research, you have educational tasks. These tasks can include co-supervision of BSc and MSc-students, supervision of practicals, work groups, and occasional lectures. Your supervisor will coach you also on education, such that your development also on this aspect is fuelled as much as possible.

You are encouraged to publish in renown scientific journals, newspapers, and appear in other media (e.g., radio). Additionally, you can visit conferences to present your work and learn from others. Throughout the process you will build your PhD-thesis, which will be a rewritten combination of your journal articles.