Fully Funded PhD Positions in Medical Robotics at Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University in United States

Jue Wang, incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), is recruiting 2–3 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers for Spring/Fall 2027 . The new lab will launch in January 2027 in the Department of Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering as part of UTK’s Foundational AI cluster . Research directions include bio-inspired and soft robotics , embodied AI , reinforcement learning , physics-informed AI , mechanical intelligence , programmable shape morphing , 3D-printed sof...

PhD opportunity at KU Leuven in robotic catheterization for emergency intervention. The Robot Assisted Surgery (RAS) group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KU Leuven is recruiting a PhD candidate to work on Development of Advanced Techniques for Emergency Robotic Catheterization . The project sits at the intersection of surgical robotics, medical devices, haptics, control, sensing, and clinical translation, with close links to micro-precision manufacturing, mechanical design, smart...

PhD opening in robotics and generative AI at Clemson University . The project focuses on next-generation intelligent robotic systems that combine generative AI and foundation models with robotic perception, reasoning, planning, learning, and control. Research directions mentioned include Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models , multimodal foundation models for robotics, generative models for robot learning and planning, embodied AI, autonomous robotic systems, human-robot interaction, and robot per...

Peng Edward Wang at Case Western Reserve University is looking for a new PhD student to join an NSF-funded project on Anticipatory Robotics: World Model and Generative Planning for Safe, Human-Aligned Autonomy . The research focuses on robotic welding , including developing a welding-specific foundation model to predict welding state evolution under candidate task conditions and torch manipulation, and to optimize and plan safe robotic actions for consistent welding quality. The project also aim...

Philipp Rothemund (University Professor at the University of Stuttgart) is hiring PhD students for a new group at connAIx in Heilbronn, affiliated with the University of Stuttgart. The research focus is on soft robotics , materials science , and embodied AI / physical AI . The group studies how a robot’s body can contribute to intelligence by integrating actuation, sensing, control, and learning. Possible topics include functional soft materials, artificial muscles, integrated sensing, physical ...