Learning while searching in symbolic planners Full-time

Offer Description

The symbolic search in large state spaces is one of the foundational problems in AI. The modern solvers typically use some variant of tree search algorithm with a strong heuristic function. Not surprisingly, the heuristic function is nowadays frequently realized by neural networks. The problem is that the training set usually contains small problem instances in few numbers while the testing set contains large instances, which inevitably lead to issues with generalization. This project will therefore investigate options, how to adapt the heuristic function during the search to efficiently use information from states visited during the search. We believe this would make the search more similar to humans, which also adapts their behavior with respect to their immediate experience. We anticipate two issues: computational complexity and construction of the feedback signal from explored state space. The ultimate goal is to make the planning system competitive to (read ultimately much better than) to state of the art planners based on heuristics created by humans.

Where to apply
E-mail
[Please click the Apply button for the link or address]

Requirements

Research Field Computer science ” Informatics Education Level PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Education, research experience and publication record in areas relevant to the research topic

Specific Requirements

Required documents to be uploaded to the Application form webpage

1. CV including a list of
   a) Invited presentations to conferences and/or international advanced schools,
   b) Organisation of International conferences (membership in the steering and/or programme committee),
   c) Prizes, Awards, and Scholarships
   d) Projects funded and/or active participation,
   e) Examples of participation in industrial innovation, if any.
2. List of publications
   Journal papers first, conference papers second, followed by patents.
3. Research proposal
   Select one of the topics offered
   Describe the scope, objectives and foreseen research and training activities, including cooperation with the Associated partner.
   Required sections: 1) Excellence, 2) Impact incl. expected outputs of the project, 3) Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation 4), Personal motivation: description of career goals, foreseen advancement in research and professional skills of the Applicant.
   Consult your proposal with the respective Mentor. You are encouraged to communicate with the mentor before you submit the application.

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Additional Information

Benefits

Gross monthly salary of 83 531 CzK/month*
Family allowance 9044 CZK/month (for applicants with dependent family members)
Travel support for conferences and secondments
Research costs1

*The gross monthly salary CZK is under the standard scheme in the Czech Republic and includes mandatory social and health insurance. Therefore, the gross salary contains an employee contribution to social and health insurance of 11% and it is standardly taxable (15 % rate). Some tax discounts are given to e.g. employees with children.

Example: a single researcher would get 61 813 CzK as net salary

The offered salary is equivalent to the standard MSCA individual postdoc award, and it is highly competitive (double the average salary in Czechia, the typical salary of an Associate professor)

Eligibility criteria

Experience :
* PhD degree at the time of beginning of the contract
Applicants who are close to the defense of their doctoral thesis will also be considered eligible to apply

* maximum of 8 years experience in research , from the date of the award of their PhD degree till the time of the Call opening (July 26, 2025) . Years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum.

* previous studies compatible with the project they intend to apply with

Mobility : applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the Czech Republic for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to the Calls’ deadline (career breaks not counted).

Selection process

2-stage

Applicants should select one topic from the List of topics and prepare their own Research proposal.
It is recommended that the applicants contact the Mentor of the relevant topic and consult their proposal in advance.

The Application form is open for modifications until the deadline.

Website for additional job details

https://cs.felk.cvut.cz/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Department of Applied Mathematics Country Czech Republic City Prague 2 Postal Code 120 00 Street Karlovo náměstí 13 Geofield