Postdoc on human-centric, collaborative AI

Introduction

Are you inspired by building human-centric, explainable, and collaborative AI? Join us in developing reinforcement learning and planning approaches that allow for increased trust, acceptance, and performance in human-AI teamwork. This is a one-year Postdoc position.

Job Description

Are you passionate about human-AI teamwork? A significant, highly complex class of AI applications are sequential decision-making problems, where a sequence of actions needs to be planned and taken to achieve a desired goal. Examples of such settings include routing problems, in which the navigation from a source to a destination consists of a sequence of steps; or the control of manufacturing processes in real time, which consist of a variable sequence of operations. Unfortunately, users often do not understand current AI decision-making very well, leading to decreased trust and acceptance. Additionally, current AI systems do not understand users very well, making their decisions blind to the users' actual needs and preferences. This hinders human-AI collaboration.

The European PEER project is an interdisciplinary project between artificial intelligence, social sciences, and societal partners, that aims at enabling deeper and more meaningful interaction and collaboration of AIs and users. Its overall objective is to build interactive and understandable sequential decision-making AI systems that empower end-users by providing them with flexible, personalized solutions adapted to their requirements and capabilities. This goes far beyond the capabilities of current approaches for example in the field of Explainable AI (XAI) or Explainable Reinforcement Learning (XRL).

We offer you the exciting opportunity to join this Europe-wide project (involving academia, industry, and non-profit partners) as a Postdoc. Your role will be to develop novel human-centric AI algorithms and techniques for reinforcement learning and planning settings, to enable interactions that allow humans to better understand and trust their AI assistants, and that allow AI systems to better understand and support their human users. We aim for users and AI systems to explore possible plans and solutions together; for more fluid mutual learning and reasoning, and a more helpful conversation between humans and AI.

Possible topics include:

• Reinforcement learning and planning methods which have the ability to propose a variety of solutions upon request, allowing for adaptation and refinement of solutions over time.
• Enhanced algorithms for explaining automated sequential decision-making which are interactive and responsive to user feedback, allowing for adaptation and refinement of explanations over time.
• Novel methods for integrating learning, planning, user feedback and the explanation of proposed solutions into a consistent, ongoing, fluid interaction loop between users and AI.

In addition, you will contribute to the management of a work package in a large Horizon Europe project. This involves scientific coordination with international partners, supporting the timely delivery of project results, and similar project management tasks.

You will be embedded within the AI for Decision-Making cluster of the Information Systems group in the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at TU/e, and collaborate with a larger team of scientists and application partners within the PEER project. We highly value team players and look forward to welcoming you in our midst.

If you are eager to push the boundaries in human-centric AI for sequential decision-making tasks, apply now to become part of our team! Together, we can shape the future of human-AI collaboration.

Job Requirements

• Motivated researcher, with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, or a comparable domain.
• Ability to conduct high quality academic research, reflected in demonstrable outputs.
• Strong theoretical knowledge and practical experience with artificial intelligence and sequential decision-making, esp. reinforcement learning and/or planning, are an advantage.
• Strong programming skills e.g. in Python and/or Java.
• A team player who enjoys working in a dynamic, interdisciplinary team.
• A proven ability to manage complex projects to completion on schedule.
• Willingness to contribute to the management of a work package in the PEER project.
• Excellent (written and verbal) proficiency in English, good communication and leadership skills.
• Independent, self-driven, and responsible.
• Can-do mentality.

Conditions of Employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for one year.
• Salary in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale 10 (min. € 3,546 max. € 5,538).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs on general skills, didactics and topics related to research and valorization.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• Unlimited access to the modern on‑campus TU/e Student Sports Center at an exceptionally affordable rate.
• Partially paid parental leave and an allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs. 
• A TU/e Postdoc Association that helps you to build a stronger and broader academic and personal network, and offers tailored support, training and workshops.
• A Staff Immigration Team is available for international candidates, as are a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) and a compensation for moving expenses.

On our website you can discover even more information about our conditions of employment. Build on your career at TU/e!

About us

We are a leading international university where scientific curiosity meets a hands-on mindset. We work in an open and collaborative way with high-tech industries to tackle complex societal challenges. Our responsible and respectful approach ensures impact — today and in the future. TU/e is home to over 13,000 students and more than 7,000 staff, forming a diverse and vibrant academic community.

Our university is located in Brainport Eindhoven — a world‑leading tech region with more than 7,000 high‑tech companies and strong R&D activity. Known for breakthroughs in AI, photonics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, Brainport is a place where technology serves people and society. Learn more about the Brainport region here.

The Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) department combines disciplinary knowledge from the humanities, social sciences and technical sciences to solve the complex problems of industries and society. We collaboratively focus on and create responsible and effective innovations for the research themes: Humans and Technology, Supply Chain Management, Sustainability and Circularity, and Value of Data-Driven Intelligence.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact Dr. Hendrik Baier ([email protected]) for more details.

Visit our website for more information about the application process. You can also contact HR Services ([email protected]).

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application using the apply-button. The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references. Kindly note that we may reach out to references at any stage of the recruitment process. We recommend notifying your references upon submitting your application.
• List of up to five self-selected ‘best publications’.

Ensure that you submit all the requested application documents. Please note that incomplete applications may not be considered and could be rejected.

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to work on pioneering research in the field of human-centric AI!

Please note

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post. 
• A pre-employment screening (e.g. knowledge security check) can be part of the selection procedure. For more information on the knowledge security check, please consult the National Knowledge Security Guidelines.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.