Postdoctoral Research Associate in Robotics & AI

We are looking for motivated researchers to apply for the postdoctoral research associate position in robotics and AI, funded by our new EPSRC project titled "Circular Robot 5.0: Industry Wide Data-Driven Circular Economy of Industrial Robots". The candidates are expected to have experience with robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital twins. We are looking for candidates who can join the project team in October 2025 or soon after.

The candidate will join the Department of Engineering at King's College London. They will become a member of the Centre for Robotics Research (CORE) and the Social AI & Robotics Lab (SAIR, led by Dr Oya Celiktutan). In 2025, King's College London is ranked 31st globally in the QS World University Rankings. It is also ranked 36th in the world by Times Higher Education. As one of the largest robotics research centres in the UK, CORE at Engineering is a multidisciplinary research group that is internationally recognised for its exceptionally high-quality robotics research in the areas of robot grasping and manipulation, kinematics and mechanisms, sensing, and human-robot interaction. Within CORE, SAIR focuses on multimodal machine learning for human-centred embodied AI, specifically tackling challenges in multimodal perception, understanding and forecasting human behaviour, as well as advancing the navigation, manipulation, and social awareness skills of robots. SAIR's research has been recognised with several awards, including the Best Paper Award at IEEE Ro-Man 2022, the NVIDIA CCS Best Student Paper Award Runner-Up at IEEE FG 2021, and First Place and Honourable Mention Awards at the ICCV UDIVA Challenge 2021.

The UK, being the eighth largest manufacturing economy, is increasing its reliance on industrial robots (IR) within its manufacturing sector. According to BEIS research, the country's industrial robotics market is projected to grow at over 40% annually from 2020-2030. However, this rapid integration raises concerns about environmental sustainability, given that decommissioned robots and related equipment often contain large amounts of critical raw materials (CRM).

This project aims to investigate digital solutions to promote a circular use of traditional and collaborative IR in manufacturing lines by extending their useful life as well as enabling their end-of-life (EoL) remanufacturing and recycling of embedded CRM. The candidate will join our multidisciplinary research team and will collaborate with both academic and industrial partners, including the Royal College of Art, Loughborough University, University College London, and the Manufacturing Technology Centre, alongside industry partners such as NVIDIA, OMRON, ASTM International, Katlas Technology, Wootzano, and Inovo Robotics. Within the scope of this project, the candidate will contribute to the development of digital enablers for authentic real-time performance data and responsible decision-making, by putting user needs at the centre.

The successful candidate is expected to:

• Shape and engage in advanced multi-disciplinary research in collaboration with the EPSRC Circular Robot 5.0 partners.
• Maintain an outstanding track record of published research at a level of international excellence.
• Lead activities promoting research impact.
• Contribute to the design, development, and implementation of robotic and AI systems within the scope of the project.
• Collaborate closely with industrial and academic partners to ensure alignment of research goals with user needs.

This is a full-time post, and you will be offered a fixed term contract for a duration of 23 months. The desirable start date is October 2025 or soon after.

Research staff at King's are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• PhD degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, AI, or a related field.
• Strong background in machine learning and robotics, with specialisation in one or more of the following areas: generative models, reinforcement learning, human-centred AI, digital twins, or related areas.
• Excellent publication record in high-quality journals and/or conference proceedings.
• Excellent programming skills, particularly in Python and/or C/C++; hands-on experience with deep learning libraries (e.g., PyTorch).
• Ability to organise and prioritise work to meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex technical information clearly to both academic and non-academic audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary research environment.

Desirable criteria

• Experience in devising and developing novel machine learning algorithms.
• Hands-on experience with ROS and physical robots.
• Excellent mathematics skills, particularly in areas relevant to robotics and AI.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.