Postdoc position in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

Do you want to develop your research and teaching in an environment where collaboration with industry and society is a natural part of the work? With us, you will collaborate with dedicated colleagues, have access to modern research infrastructure, and enjoy strong opportunities to attract external funding. You will have the space to make a real difference for your students, your research, and society at large.
The Robotics and Artificial Intelligence group at Luleå University of Technology works in field robotics and tests its methods on robots in real environments. We are now looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on localisation and mapping for robots in GPS-denied environments, where dust and smoke disturb cameras and lidar. The position also covers cooperation between ground robots and drones. You will develop SLAM that combines radar, inertial sensors, lidar and cameras, and control methods that let a drone fly alongside a ground robot and land on it. We value good collaboration skills and an interest in taking research from the lab to the field.

Subject description
Robotics and artificial intelligence aim to develop novel robotic systems that are characterized by advanced autonomy for improving the ability of robots to interact with the surrounding environment and humans during the execution of specific tasks.

Project description
Field robots in mines, tunnels and disaster areas often work without GPS, and the air can be full of dust or smoke. Lidar and cameras then lose much of their signal. Radar and thermal cameras are less affected but give sparser or noisier data. Reliable localisation therefore needs several sensor types and a good understanding of how each of them degrades. The same missions often combine ground robots and drones. For example, the ground robot can carry the drone into the area, and the drone then explores places the ground robot cannot reach. Afterwards the drone has to land on the ground robot again, with noisy odometry and an uncertain estimate of where the ground robot is. This position will develop the estimation and control methods these missions need and test them on real robots.

The research will focus on one or more of the following areas.
- Radar-inertial SLAM and odometry for robots that operate in dust, smoke and darkness
- Methods and test environments for evaluating the accuracy of odometry and SLAM in dust and smoke-filled environments, including the collection of datasets with ground truth
- Multi-modal SLAM that combines lidar, radar, RGB cameras and thermal cameras and adapts when one or more sensors degrade, for field robots in GPS-denied environments
- Control and collision avoidance for quadrotor drones that operate together with ground robots in cooperative missions
- Methods for landing an aerial robot on ground robot carrier in presence of localization uncertainty and degraded sensing conditions.

Duties
The duties of a postdoctoral researcher are primarily research. The research has a substantial experimental part, with work on real robots and field experiments in underground and other GPS-denied environments. You will publish the results in international peer-reviewed journals and at major conferences. The position also includes co-supervision of PhD and master's students and taking part in applications for research funding from funding agencies, the EU framework programme and industry. Teaching may be included for at most one fifth of working time.

Qualifications
To be eligible for employment as a postdoctoral researcher, you must hold a PhD or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD in robotics, automatic control, computer science, electrical engineering or a related subject. It is a merit if the doctoral degree was awarded no more than three years before the application deadline. Candidates who were awarded their doctoral degree earlier may also be considered if there are special grounds, for example different types of statutory leave.

You need a good knowledge of at least one of the following: state estimation and SLAM, sensor fusion, or control of aerial robots. Previous work with experimentally verified results on real robots, in at least one of the research areas above, is required. You also need good programming skills in C++ and Python, and experience of ROS or ROS 2. Good oral and written English is required, since you will present the group's work in Sweden and abroad.

Experience of radar or thermal cameras, of calibration of multiple sensors, of control barrier functions or other methods for safety-critical control, of quadrotor hardware and flight experiments, or of field experiments in underground environments is a merit.

Further information
This is a full-time, fixed-term position as a postdoctoral researcher for two years, with the possibility of extension to a maximum of three years in total. The position is based in Luleå. The starting date is by agreement.

For further information about the position, please contact
Chaired Professor George Nikolakopoulos, +46 920-49 1298, geonik@ltu.se
Postdoctoral Researcher, Akash Patel, akash.patel@ltu.se

For each position, a preliminary salary range is provided based on the requirements, responsibilities and market conditions of the role.

Union representatives

In case of different interpretations of the English and Swedish versions of this announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

Application
We prefer that you apply via the application button below. Attach a cover letter, a CV with a list of publications and copies of verified degree certificates. Also include a research plan of at most two pages that describes how you would approach one or more of the research areas above, and the names and contact details of two references. Please mark your application with the reference number below. The application and degree certificates must be written in Swedish or English.

For the full job advertisement, please refer to the LTU website, https://www.ltu.se/

Closing date for applications: 15 November, 2026
Reference number: 5207-2026