Oxford, United Kingdom
ENGINEERING SCIENCE
Careers
Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Decision-making under uncertainty for robots
Grade 7 : £39,424 - £47,779 per annum
Closing date Sep 21, 2026 12:00PM
We are looking for a post-doctoral research assistant to join the GOALS group (http://ori.ox.ac.uk/labs/goals/) within the Oxford Robotics Institute (ORI), as part of the EPSRC Programme Grant in Embodied Intelligence (https://embodiedintelligence.web.ox.ac.uk) and other follow-on projects. The successful applicant will be committed to our research on decision-making for autonomous systems. Our work focuses on mission planning under uncertainty, and sequential decision-making more generally. We tackle problems in single and multi-agent systems operating in uncertain environments and around humans. We typically work with Markov decision processes (MDPs), and are interested in both fundamental algorithms for producing policies for rich goal structures in MDPs (e.g. risk, temporal logic, or probabilistic objectives), and modelling robot decision problems using MDPs (e.g. human-robot interaction, safe exploration, long-term monitoring). Our recent research on algorithms has included work on epistemic uncertainty, uncertain MDPs, proactive task allocation, multi-robot coordination, offline reinforcement learning (RL), Bayes adaptive RL, and planning with novel variants of Monte Carlo tree search. You should possess a relevant PhD/DPhil or be near completion together with relevant experience, including a track record of contributions in decision-making under uncertainty robotic exploration and mission planning under epistemic uncertainty. You will have knowledge or experience in modelling and solving problems under uncertainty, from either an AI, robotics, or verification perspective, and an ability to manage own academic research and associated activities. Informal enquiries may be addressed to Nick Hawes (email: nick.hawes@eng.ox.ac.uk). For more information about working at the Department, see www.eng.ox.ac.uk/about/work-with-us/
The Department holds an Athena Swan Bronze award, highlighting its commitment to promoting women in Science, Engineering and Technology.
Keywords : AI, robotics, planning, uncertainty, decision-,making
Contact name
Professor Nick Hawes
Contact email
nick.hawes@eng.ox.ac.uk
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Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Decision-making under uncertainty for robots Closing date: Sep 21, 2026 in Oxford employer: University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science
As a Senior Programme Manager at BOLD Lab, you will be part of a dynamic and collaborative work culture that prioritises scientific excellence and innovation. Our commitment to employee growth is reflected in our supportive environment, where you will have the opportunity to lead impactful projects and develop your skills alongside esteemed academic and professional teams. Located in a vibrant academic setting, we offer unique advantages such as access to cutting-edge research facilities and a network of external partners dedicated to fostering sustainable growth.
Contact Details:
University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science Recruitment Team
