Vacant job

The University of Skövde is a central and leading actor in education, research, and collaboration, supporting the transition towards a sustainable future – regionally, nationally, and internationally. Our 12,000 students and 460 employees create the prerequisites for society's digital transformation and sustainable development through high-quality education and research in selected areas. Welcome to a vibrant campus in the heart of Skaraborg.

About Us

The Department of Engineering at the University of Skövde is characterized by a creative and dynamic environment, encompassing a very good collaborative climate, modern facilities, and excellent industrial collaboration. For more than a decade, the Department of Engineering has demonstrated how a "smaller" higher education institution can achieve excellent applied research and high-quality education, as well as generate the funding and technical innovations that characterize a successful research environment. We work with an integrated educational value chain with known added value for the student, where our new engineering programs are CDIO-adapted and students have good opportunities for internships and work with our industrial partners. The right candidate will join a team whose work is of great importance to industry, society, and academia.

The doctoral studies are conducted within the subject of Information Technology, which at the University of Skövde is defined as the subject dealing with how information is represented, processed, and communicated in artificial and natural systems, as well as how information technology systems are used and developed to achieve useful system solutions for individuals, organizations, or society.

Your Role

You will join a team whose work has great significance for industry, society, and academia. As a doctoral student, you will focus on the development of intelligent, adaptive, and safe industrial robot systems. The doctoral project investigates how industrial robots can be further developed using various forms of AI, both traditional AI and neural network-based methods, to improve adaptability, safety, human comfort, and resilience. The research will cover AI for robot perception, such as vision systems, human recognition, modeling of human intentions, planning of robot actions, and maintaining production efficiency.

The employment includes full-time doctoral education, including courses and research.

We are looking for you who have:

• Completed an advanced level degree, or completed course requirements of at least 240 hp, of which at least 60 hp at an advanced level, or in some other way within or outside Sweden acquired substantially equivalent knowledge.
• Completed course requirements of at least 60 hp, including an independent thesis work of at least 15 hp at an advanced level, within the subject of Information Technology, closely related application areas, or other subject areas assessed as directly relevant for dissertation work within the subject of Information Technology such as computer science, information technology, production technology, industrial technology, automation technology, or other relevant subject area.
• Documented language skills in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary school course English 6. This can also be shown through an internationally recognized test such as IELTS (total score 6.5), TOEFL (total score 90), PTE (total score 62), etc.

Qualifications

We will also evaluate the following criteria when hiring:

• Good ability to assimilate education at the doctoral level.
• Good knowledge and experience of modeling and simulation of robot cells, for example in RobotStudio, as well as digital twins.
• Good knowledge of configuration, programming, and commissioning of industrial robots and associated software.
• Good programming skills in Python, C++, or similar languages.
• Good knowledge of network communication and integration between different systems, such as robots, AI, and digital twins.
• Good knowledge and experience of machine learning, reinforcement learning, and AI-based optimization for robot control and robot perception.
• Documented experience of industrial collaboration and practical implementation of research.
• Good communication and collaboration skills.
• Documented ability to work independently, plan research, and achieve set goals.

In this employment, great importance will be attached to good knowledge and experience of machine learning, reinforcement learning, and AI-based optimization for robot control and robot perception, as well as good knowledge of configuration, programming, and commissioning of industrial robots and associated software.

Employment Type

The employment is a fixed-term appointment until the doctoral degree is conferred, but for a maximum of 4 years. The extent of the employment is 100%. Salary is paid according to a local agreement on a salary scale for doctoral students. Only those who are admitted or have already been admitted to a doctoral education may be employed as doctoral students.

Application deadline: July 31, 2026

Reference number: HS 2026/486

Contact Information

Information about the employment is provided by Section Head Stefan Ericson ([email protected]) and Associate Professor Masood Fathi ([email protected]). Trade union information is provided by Anders Johansson (Saco-S) or Maria Carlstedt (ST). All persons can be reached via the University's switchboard at 0500-44 80 00.

Application

You apply for the employment via our website, www.his.se/jobb by clicking on "Apply" at the bottom of the advertisement. There you can also read more about the University's recruitment process and what benefits you have as an employee with us. We look forward to receiving your application!

The following documents must be attached to your application:

• Cover letter including a statement of interest, where you state your motivation, research interests, and expectations of the doctoral education in English.
• CV.
• Certificates, grades, and other merit documents that you as an applicant wish to claim.
• Degree certificate and transcript of records.
• Master's or Bachelor's thesis.
• Any publications.

Contact the HR department at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) if you have publications that cannot be attached electronically directly in the application. The publications must be made available to the university no later than one week after the application deadline.