Job Information
- Organisation/Company: Czech Technical University in Prague
- Department: Department of Computer Science
- Research Field: Technology » Computer technology
- Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
- Positions: PhD Positions
- Application Deadline: 3 Dec 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels)
- Country: Czech Republic
- Type of Contract: Temporary
- Job Status: Full-time
- Hours Per Week: 40
- Offer Starting Date: 1 Feb 2027
- EU Research Framework Programme: Horizon Europe - MSCA
- Staff position within a Research Infrastructure: No
Offer Description
Pictus PhD Fellowship Programme
Czech Technical University in Prague – International PhD Programme (PICTUS) will recruit 8 students (see Eligibility criteria below) for a full 48-month employment contract and enroll them in a specific PhD course. Candidates should prepare their own research proposal from the List of topics for the 2nd Call.
Application form should be filled and all required documents uploaded using the dedicated electronic form.
helpdesk: [contact details available in the full listing]
Learning while searching in symbolic planners
Description:
The symbolic search in large state spaces is one of the foundational problems in AI. The modern solvers typically use some variant of tree search algorithm with a strong heuristic function. Not surprisingly, the heuristic function is nowadays frequently realized by neural networks. The problem is that the training set usually contains small problem instances in few numbers while the testing set contains large instances, which inevitably lead to issues with generalization. This project will therefore investigate options, how to adapt the heuristic function during the search to efficiently use information from states visited during the search. We believe this would make the search more similar to humans, which also adapts their behavior with respect to their immediate experience. We anticipate two issues: computational complexity and construction of the feedback signal from explored state space. The ultimate goal is to make the planning system competitive to (read ultimately much better than) to state of the art planners based on heuristics created by humans.
Secondment:
Artificial Intelligence and Integrated Computer Systems, Linköping University,
Co-supervisor: prof. Jendrik Seipp
Where to apply
E-mail: [contact details available in the full listing]
Requirements
Research Field: Technology » Computer technology
Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
Required documents to be uploaded to the Application form webpage
- CV including
- Education received
- Any working and professional experience
- Prizes and Awards
- Participation at projects
- Internships
- List of publications
- Master thesis pdf max 20 MB
- Research proposal
Select one of the List of topics for the 2nd Call.
Required sections: 1) Excellence incl. methodology, 2) Impact incl. expected outputs of the project, 3) Quality and Efficiency of the Implementation, including work plan, Risk assessment and ethical issues 4), Personal motivation: description of career goals, foreseen advancement in research and professional skills of the Applicant. Methodology and workplan should be planned, ethical issues should be discussed and short risk analysis performed.
Consult your proposal with the respective Supervisor. You are encouraged to communicate with the Supervisor before you submit the application. Supervisors’ role is limited to providing scientific advice, discussing the proposed research, or gathering information about available expertise or infrastructure.
- Master degree diploma or a proof, that all conditions for Master degree will be fullfilled
Please note that candidates should contact the potential supervisor for details and consult their research proposal.
Candidates should apply for the PhD program at the same time as their PICTUS fellowship application. At some faculties the PhD admission is currently closed. In such case submit application for PICTUS and you will be notified to submit your PhD application once the PhD submission system is open.
Redress Procedure.
All applicants will have the opportunity to redress within 10 days from communicating the results.
Specific Requirements
Experience:
Master degree at the deadline date (candidates who submitted their Master thesis will also be considered)
* previous studies compatible with the project they intend to apply with
Mobility: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the Czech Republic for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to the Calls’ deadline (career breaks not counted).
Completeness: applications need to be completed with all the required documents.
Languages: ENGLISH
Level: Good
Research Field: Technology » Computer technology
Additional Information
Benefits
Benefits
Gross monthly salary of 2 444 EUR/month + mobility allowance 444 EUR/month (in total approx. 69 000 CZK/month*)
Family allowance 8 888 CZK/month (for applicants with dependent family members)
Travel support for conferences and secondments
Research costs
*The gross monthly salary CZK is under the standard scheme in the Czech Republic and includes mandatory social and health insurance. Therefore, the gross salary contains an employee contribution to social and health insurance of 11% and it is standardly taxable (15 % rate). Some tax discounts are given to e.g. employees with children. All rates subject to adjustments due to changing exchange rate. Mobility and Family allowance can be tax free.
Example: a single researcher would get approx. 55 000 CZK as net salary
The offered salary is equivalent to the standard MSCA individual postdoc award, and it is highly competitive in the Czech Republic
Eligibility criteria
Experience:
*Master degree at the time of beginning of the contract
* previous studies compatible with the project they intend to apply with
Mobility: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the Czech Republic for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to the Calls’ deadline (career breaks not counted).
Website for additional job details: https://cs.felk.cvut.cz/
Work Location(s)
Number of offers available: 1
Company/Institute: Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Country: Czech Republic
City: Prague 2
Postal Code: 120 00
Street: Karlovo náměstí 13
Contact
State/Province: Czech Republic
City: Prague
Website: https://www.cvut.cz/en
Street: Jugoslávských partyzánů 1580/3
Postal Code: 160 00
