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PhD Position: Safe Planning and Decision-Making under Uncertainty for Long-Horizon Robot Autonomy Delft University of Technology in Netherlands

Degree Level

PhD

Field of study

Computer Science

Funding

EU-funded OPERA project; full-time PhD employment for 4 years with salary increasing from €3059 to €3881 gross per month, plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

Deadline

Nov 15, 2026

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Country

Netherlands

University

Delft University of Technology

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Keywords

Computer Science
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mathematics
Probabilistic Modeling
Human-robot Interaction
Dynamical Systems
State Estimation
Model Predictive Control
Optimisation
Robotics
Statistics
Mechatronics
Robot Motion Planning

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About this position

This PhD project at Delft University of Technology focuses on safe planning and decision-making for long-horizon robot autonomy under uncertainty. The work sits in the Cognitive Robotics Department and is embedded in the Reliable Robot Control Lab, within the EU-funded OPERA consortium.

You will develop methods that help robots operate among people over extended time spans while balancing deliberate planning with fast, reactive behavior. The central research challenge is to make robots act safely and reliably when their knowledge of the environment and human behavior is incomplete, and when predictions may fail. The position emphasizes methods with clear formulations, well-understood failure modes, and validation in both simulation and on real robots.

The research lies at the intersection of model-based planning and control and learning-based models. Depending on your background, you may work with optimal control, model predictive control, motion planning, probabilistic modeling and estimation, or learning-based approaches. You will also analyze guarantees and failure modes, and contribute to OPERA tasks on GPAI-powered planning and decision-making, long-term reasoning in human-centered environments, and adaptive human-robot and robot-environment interaction.

As part of the project, you will collaborate with partners across Europe on simulation, perception, and the OPERA open-source toolbox. The role is located in Delft and involves participation in an international research environment with close links to broader general-purpose AI for robotics activities.

Funding details

EU-funded OPERA project; full-time PhD employment for 4 years with salary increasing from €3059 to €3881 gross per month, plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

What's required

An MSc degree in Systems and Control, Robotics, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related field is required. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in control, optimization, or motion planning; strong analytical and mathematical skills, especially in optimization, probability and statistics, and dynamical systems; excellent communication skills; and proficiency in English (written and verbal). Experience with optimization-based planners or controllers such as MPC with acados or CasADi in C++ or Python, safe or robust control under uncertainty, learned dynamics or model-based reinforcement learning, uncertainty quantification or Bayesian modeling, long-horizon or hierarchical planning, human or multi-agent behavior prediction, and ROS/ROS 2 deployment is particularly encouraged.

How to apply

Apply online via the application button no later than 15 November 2026. Upload a motivation letter, updated CV, Bachelor and Master transcripts, and a copy of your MSc thesis or draft thesis (or a link to access it). Address the application to Laura Ferranti and Robert Babuška. Email submissions are not processed.

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Professors

Prof. at Delft University of Technology

University Name
Country flag

Netherlands

Research Interests

Human-robot Interaction

Robot Motion Planning

Optimisation

Dynamical Systems

Probabilistic Modeling