University Assistant Prae-Doc (all genders)

At the Institute of Visual Computing and Human-Centered Technology, in the Research Unit of Artifact-based Computing & User Research, TU Wien is offering a position as a PhD student (pre-doc) position limited to expected 4 years for 30 hours/week. Expected start date: February 2025, or later by mutual agreement.

Do you have a passion for robotics and Extended Reality (XR) and you want to make an impact? Are you interested in designing and building autonomous robots that can better support people in their daily life? If so, this might be for you!

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student who has a passion for building interactive robots and drones and for creating visualization systems to better support people. 

In recent years, aerial robots (a.k.a. drones), have emerged as critical tools in disaster management efforts. Their ability to access difficult-to-reach places has made them especially valuable for supporting first responders, such as by surveying and gathering data, as well as supporting victims by, for instance, monitoring their physical condition. Thanks to advances in miniaturization, small drones can now land on a person’s body to facilitate such health monitoring. As part of this research, you will explore the design space of on-body drones using virtual and augmented reality techniques; and design, develop, and evaluate interactive prototypes to further explore the potential of aerial robotics.

Tasks:

• Your task will consist in implementing a series of human-machine interface prototypes (software and hardware) for automated drones in an emergency context
• You will work following a human-centered design process
• Part of your work will consist of running user studies with various stakeholders using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Some of the studies will take place in a laboratory, while others will take place in the wild.
• Your role will then be to analyze the data and use the results to iterate future versions of your prototype
• You will work both independently and as part of a team and you are expected to bring both rigor and creativity to the project

Your profile:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or similar studies.
• Experience in Human-Robot Interaction, Robotics, and/or Computer Vision.
• Strong motivation to do research and interest in robotics and new technologies (e.g., participation in challenges or robotic competitions).
• Confidence in working both independently and collaboratively.
• Strong technical skills. Including, but not limited to: the ability to program in one or several programming languages (e.g., Python, C/C++, ROS, Arduino, Ardupilot).
• Proficiency in analyzing data and statistics.
• A can-do attitude and hands-on creative technologist.
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills in English

We offer:

• A wide variety and exciting range of tasks in a collegial team
• Flexibility in working time arrangements.
• A range of attractive social benefits (see Fringe-Benefit Catalogue of TU Wien)
• Wide range of internal and external training opportunities, various career options
• Central location of workplace as well as good accessibility (U1/U4 Karlsplatz)

Entry level salary is determined by the pay grade B1 of the Austrian collective agreement for university staff. This is a minimum of currently EUR 2,786.10/month gross, 14 times/year for 30 hours/week. Relevant working experiences may increase the monthly income.

We look forward to receiving your application until January 9th, 2025.