PhD Student in Control Engineering with a Focus on Reinforcement Learning

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At Linköping University, research is conducted in various areas of control engineering such as sensor fusion, methods for learning control, and optimization. We are now looking for a PhD student to conduct research at the intersection of reinforcement learning and control theory.

Your Responsibilities

Project Description: Reinforcement Learning (RL) offers a powerful framework from start to finish for controlling dynamic systems - through a direct mapping from sensor data to control actions. This PhD project focuses on further developing RL techniques for the control of partially observable dynamic systems, where an agent must infer hidden aspects of the environment to act effectively. A central theme of the project is world modeling - constructing and using internal representations of the environment to support planning, prediction, and control. The following research questions will be studied:

• Effective world modeling from data: Explore both model-free and model-based methods to learn compact, predictive representations of the environment. The focus will be on how agents can build and refine internal models from limited data.
• Algorithm development for partially observable systems: Design and evaluate RL algorithms that integrate world models to improve sample efficiency, robustness, and generalization in complex environments.

This position is part of the Zenith project “Reinforcement Learning for partially observable dynamical systems with continuous state and action spaces.” More information about the project can be found here: project link (https://liu.se/en/research/reinforcement-learning-for-partially-observable-dynamical-systems).

As a PhD student, you will engage in your doctoral education and the research project you are part of. Your work may also include teaching or participating in other departmental assignments, up to 20 percent of full-time.

Your Qualifications

You have completed a master's degree in electrical engineering, engineering physics, computer science, or applied mathematics, or completed courses totaling at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at the master's level as mentioned above, or have acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way. The degree requirement must be fulfilled by the time the employment decision is made, that is, when the employment contract is signed.

We are looking for a motivated and ambitious candidate with the following qualifications:

• A strong background in control engineering
• Familiarity with reinforcement learning
• Good programming skills
• Excellent communication skills and fluent English, both spoken and written

Additional qualifications that are considered meritorious:

• Knowledge in machine learning, optimization, and statistics
• Experience in programming in Python

Your Workplace

You will belong to the Department of Control Engineering, which successfully conducts research, doctoral education, and undergraduate education in areas such as autonomous systems, data-driven modeling, complex networks, learning control, optimization, and sensor fusion. The department has extensive collaborations with both industry and other research groups around the world.

More information about the department can be found here: department link (https://liu.se/organisation/liu/isy/rt). To learn more about ISY, visit: ISY link (https://liu.se/artikel/lediga-tjanster-pa-isy).

About the Employment

Upon taking up the position, you will be admitted to the doctoral program. Read more about the respective faculty's doctoral education here.

The employment is time-limited to normally four years full-time. Extension of employment up to five years may occur based on the degree of teaching and departmental assignments. In special circumstances, further extension may occur. You will initially be employed for one year, and thereafter the employment will be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time, based on the achieved study plan.

Please feel free to contact [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) if you have questions about what it is like to work as a PhD student at ISY.

Start date by agreement.

A background check may be conducted before a decision on employment is made.

Salary and Benefits

The PhD salary is regulated based on a locally agreed salary scale. Read more about employee benefits here.

Union Contacts

Information about union contacts can be found in Help for applicants.

Application

You apply for this position by clicking the “Apply” button below. Your application must be received by Linköping University no later than December 5, 2025. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, as this enriches and develops our operations. For us, it is natural to uphold everyone's equal value, rights, and opportunities. Read about our work with Equal Conditions.

Welcome with your application!

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