PhD Position in Reinforcement Learning

Application deadline: 12 December 2024 at 23:59 hours local Danish time
The Centre for Machine Learning located under the Data Science and Statistics Section of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (IMADA) at the University of Southern Denmark invites applications for a paid PhD research fellowship position within the field of probabilistic machine learning to be filled earliest by 1 January 2025 for a period of three years.

Application deadline: 12 December 2024 at 23:59 hours local Danish time
The research project aims to develop new reinforcement learning algorithms with provable performance guarantees. The project specifically addresses continuous control problems with deep actor-critic algorithms. The provable efficiency guarantees are aimed to be developed using advanced
learning-theoretic tools such as Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) Bayesian analysis. The project is funded by a prestigious domestic grant.

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has the unique feature of bringing mathematicians and computer scientists together within a single department to foster theoretically well-backed high-quality data science research. The department is home to many ongoing externally funded research projects, as well as to a rich curriculum of data science courses. The Data Science and Statistics Group is a synergy platform for the data science experts at IMADA.

We are seeking candidates with strong desire to make significant contributions to science, specific interest in fundamental machine learning research, and an outstanding theoretical background in machine learning, Bayesian inference, and reinforcement learning demonstrated by excellent course grades and by scientific publications at major international peer-reviewed venues of core machine learning research. Strong scientific programming skills demonstrated by contributions to public code repositories or released source code from the candidate’s own publications is a big plus. We also expect excellent spoken and written communication skills in English.

The successful candidate will join the vibrant research atmosphere at the SDU Adaptive Intelligence Laboratory and entertain substantial peer support in both technical and social matters. The candidate will contribute to the publication of high-quality research papers at top-tier machine learning venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR together with the other lab members. The candidate will also fulfill teaching assistantship duties.

We will consider the candidates who have a master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or Theoretical Physics at the time of the commencement of employment. Candidates should demonstrate that they have passed at least two master’s level courses that cover advanced machine learning topics with a grade that corresponds to top 10% success within the native grade scale.

More information
For further questions about the position please contact Assoc. Prof. Melih Kandemir on [email protected].

Place of work
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is located at the main campus of the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.

Application, salary etc.
Appointment as a PhD Research Fellow is for three years. Employment stops automatically at the end of the period. The holder of the scholarship is not allowed to have other paid employment during the three-year period.

The successful applicant will be employed in accordance with the agreement on salaried PhD scholars between the Ministry of Finance and AC (the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations). Please check links for more information on salary (only available in Danish) and taxation.

The successful candidate will be enrolled at this university in accordance with faculty regulations and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities (PhD order).

Further information about the PhD-study can be found at the homepage of the University.
The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Application must be in English and made in the form of a Declaration of Interest including the following:

• A letter stating your specific interest, motivation, and qualifications for the project in question (max. two pages) .
• Detailed CV, including personal contact information.
• Copies of diplomas, Bachelor as well as Master’s degree, including transcript of notes/grades.
• At least two signed reference letters. Should your referees wish to send their letters directly to us, please have them use e-mail: [email protected] mentioning your name and the title of the position in the subject line. And please note that these also need to reach us before deadline.

Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process.
Incomplete applications and applications received after the deadline will neither be considered nor evaluated. This also applies to reference letters.
Applications will be assessed by an expert assessor/committee. Applicants will be informed of their assessment by the university.

Applications should be sent electronically via the link "Apply now". The faculty expects applicants to read the information "How to apply" before applying. Please note that the application documents should be in pdf-format and attached as three documents: motivation letter, CV and the remaining documents.

We recommend that as an international applicant you take the time to visit Work in Denmark where you will find information and facts about moving to, working and living in Denmark, as well as the International Staff Office at SDU.

Placering: Odense, Denmark