PhD Scholarship in Human Navigation, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience for Human-Centric Urban Mobility Technical University of Denmark in Denmark

[3-year PhD scholarship funded based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.]

DTU Management at the Technical University of Denmark invites applications for a 3-year PhD Scholarship in Human Navigation, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience for Human-Centric Urban Mobility. The project, Brains in Motion: Explaining How Humans Learn and Adapt to Navigate Urban Environments Using Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, is hosted by the Department of Technology, Management and Economics and linked to the new DTU Smart Sensing Lab.

The PhD will examine how people learn, adapt, and stabilise navigation behaviour in urban environments. The work combines transportation science, artificial intelligence, computational neuroscience, and behavioural experimentation. Research tasks include developing learning-based models of navigation and route choice, applying reinforcement learning and probabilistic modelling, modelling internal representations of urban space, and integrating behavioural data with neurophysiological measures such as eye movements, cognitive load, attention dynamics, and EEG-based signals.

The project has a strong empirical and experimental focus. The student will design and conduct immersive virtual reality experiments and naturalistic field studies, working with behavioural data, eye-tracking, wearables, and EEG in human-centric sensing environments. The output is intended to support urban planning and transport system design, with an emphasis on how infrastructure changes, route closures, and new mobility technologies affect human navigation and adaptation.

This PhD is part of a strategic collaboration between DTU and Imperial College London. The selected candidate will undertake a 6-month research stay at Professor Aldo Faisal’s Brain & Behaviour Lab at Imperial College London to gain methodological expertise in neurophysiological measurement and analysis. The collaboration includes joint supervision, regular meetings, co-authored publications, and interaction with a complementary PhD project at Imperial College London.

Supervision at DTU is provided by Associate Professor Rico Krueger, with co-supervision by Associate Professor Carlos L. Azevedo. Professor Aldo Faisal from Imperial College London is involved as an international project partner. Applicants should have a two-year master’s degree (120 ECTS) or an equivalent degree, ideally in a relevant quantitative or behavioural field such as cognitive science, computational neuroscience, behavioural science, transport modelling, data science, AI, computer science, human-computer interaction, spatial cognition, engineering, applied mathematics, or statistics.

Funding is provided as a PhD scholarship based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Applications must be submitted online no later than 15 September 2026 at 23:59 Danish time via the application link provided in the announcement.