PhD Candidate in Trustworthy Agentic Artificial Intelligence Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Norway

NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology is offering a PhD Candidate position in Trustworthy Agentic Artificial Intelligence at the Department of ICT and Natural Sciences in Ålesund, Norway. This project sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, autonomy, and maritime technology, and is embedded in the new Norwegian Maritime AI Center led by NTNU.

The PhD research focuses on developing trustworthy agentic AI systems based on open-weight foundation models. The project is especially relevant for safety-critical maritime applications, where AI systems must be transparent, accountable, verifiable, and able to support human oversight. The research will explore agent architectures, reasoning, planning, tool use, model adaptation, alignment, uncertainty quantification, interpretability, monitoring, and methods for reliable operation under real-world constraints.

A central application area is condition monitoring and predictive maintenance of ships and maritime systems. The successful candidate will investigate how an AI agent can work with heterogeneous operational data from sensors, machinery, control systems, and maintenance records to detect abnormal behaviour, reason about faults, assess equipment condition, and support maintenance decisions. The project also includes validation in other safety-relevant domains in collaboration with the Maritime AI Center and industry partners.

The position offers a research environment with strong links to the Norwegian maritime sector, access to relevant maritime use cases and expertise, and participation in the Cyber-Physical Systems Laboratory (CPS Lab) and the wider Maritime AI Center community. The center is funded by the Research Council of Norway and partners for 2026–2030, and it will host around 25 doctoral scholarships plus some postdoc positions.

Eligibility highlights: a relevant master's degree in computer science, AI, data science, engineering cybernetics, applied mathematics, electrical engineering, or equivalent; a strong academic record (typically B or better at NTNU); admission requirements for the PhD programme in Engineering Cybernetics; strong Python and machine learning framework experience; and, where relevant, an approved English test score.

Funding and duration: this is a paid PhD employment at NTNU, with a gross salary normally around NOK 580,000 per year depending on qualifications, for a 3-year doctoral appointment.

Application deadline: 31 October 2026. Applications must be submitted electronically via Jobbnorge.no, along with the required documentation including transcripts, diplomas, thesis, motivation letter, and referee contacts.

For questions about the position, contact Professor Agus Hasan at [email protected]. Recruitment-process questions may be directed to [email protected].