A thesis offer in neurorobotics is available on the topic of modeling affective processes for visual attention, decision-making and social behaviors. The thesis project will be carried out at the ETIS Laboratory (CNRS UMR8051) of CY Cergy Paris University, located in the Paris region.

Two Postdoctoral Research Associates in Neurorobotics are required for a period of 48 months to work on the Horizon/InnovateUK project “PRIMI: Performance in Robots Interaction via Mental Imagery. This is a collaborative project of the University of Manchester’s Cognitive Robotics Lab with various academic and industry partners in the UK and Europe. PRIMI will synergistically combine research and development in neurophysiology, psychology, machine intelligence, cognitive mechatronics, neuromorphic engineering, and humanoid robotics to build developmental models of higher-cognition abilities – mental imagery, abstract reasoning, and theory of mind – boosted by energy- efficient event-driven computing and sensing. You will carry out research on robot neuro/cognitive architectures, using a combination of machine learning and robotics methodologies. You will be working collaboratively as part of the Cognitive Robotics Lab at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester under the supervision of Professor Angelo Cangelosi.

Full-time PhD positions on planning and learning for automated driving at the Neurorobotics Lab, University of Freiburg, Germany. The project involves working in a team with excellent peers in a larger project with an industry partner.

It is common for animals to use self-generated movements to actively sense the surrounding environment. For instance, rodents rhythmically move their whiskers to explore the space close to their body. The mouse whisker system has become a standard model to study active sensing and sensorimotor integration through feedback loops. In this work, we developed a bioinspired spiking neural network model of the sensorimotor peripheral whisker system, modelling trigeminal ganglion, trigeminal nuclei, facial nuclei, and central pattern generator neuronal populations. This network was embedded in a virtual mouse robot, exploiting the Neurorobotics Platform, a simulation platform offering a virtual environment to develop and test robots driven by brain-inspired controllers. Eventually, the peripheral whisker system was properly connected to an adaptive cerebellar network controller. The whole system was able to drive active whisking with learning capability, matching neural correlates of behaviour experimentally recorded in mice.