Internship opportunity at the frontiers of robotics, AI and chemistry at the University of Glasgow, UK
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Jonathan Grizou
Jun 9, 2016, 4:59:37 AM6/9/16
to Machine Learning News
A fully funded master degree-level internship is available within the Cronin group (http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/) at the University of Glasgow. The selected student will explore robots and algorithms as tools for the exploration of complex physicochemical systems in the real world. You will join a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in chemistry, robotics, and artificial intelligence. A fully funded PhD position will then be open for the candidate.
The position will ideally start on the 27th of June or as soon as we will have found a suitable candidate.
About the topic
----------------------
The general objective of this research is to combine, develop, and evaluate algorithms for exploration of complex physicochemical systems. We take inspiration from the field of developmental robotics [1], with concepts such as goal babbling, intrinsic motivation, and maturational constraint [2,3], and apply them to the exploration of complex systems in the real world. Such systems cannot be simulated in practical times and experiments must thus be performed on the real system – raising a number of interesting challenges.
We recently demonstrated the use of robotics and artificial intelligence as tools to explore oils in water systems [4]. A robot equipped with an evolutionary algorithm was able to optimize efficiently oils ratio to elicit various droplet physical behaviors, such as movement, division, and vibration.
We are now exploring the open-ended exploration of such systems and the role of the environment as an experimental variable impacting the expression of physicochemical systems.
[1] Lungarella M, Metta G, Pfeifer R, Sandini G (2003) Developmental robotics: a survey. Conn Sci 15(4):151–190.
[2] PY Oudeyer, F Kaplan, VV Hafner (2007) Intrinsic motivation systems for autonomous mental development. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation
[3] Baranes A, Oudeyer P-Y (2011) The Interaction of Maturational Constraints and Intrinsic Motivations in Active Motor Development. International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL).
[4] Gutierrez JMP, Hinkley T, Taylor JW, Yanev K, Cronin L (2014) Evolution of oil droplets in a chemorobotic platform. Nat Commun 5:5571.
Skills and Profiles
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Prospective candidates should hold a master degree in computer science, machine learning, or robotics. A good knowledge of Python will be useful, as well as good abilities to tinker, build, and program simple robots. The candidate must have a strong willingness to work in an interdisciplinary project at the frontiers of computer science, robotics, and chemistry.
Ideally, the candidate will have practical experience with algorithms for exploration and learning in robotic scenarios and some knowledge or enthusiasm for materials science / chemistry.
The Cronin Group
----------
You will join the Cronin Group whose research is motivated by the fascination for complex chemical systems, and the desire to construct complex functional molecular architectures that are not based on biologically derived building blocks.
Recently the group started exploring new frontiers at the crossing point of chemistry, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The group is at the leading edge of this new field and brings together a unique blend of multi-disciplinary researchers from chemistry to computer vision and algorithmic discovery research.
The Cronin Group consists of Prof Lee Cronin, 5 Senior Researchers, 19 Post-Doctoral Researchers, 23 PhD Students, 2 Technicians, 3 Project Students, 1 Administrator. Prof. Lee Cronin has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles in a range of high impact journals and has given over 300 invited presentations at conferences and universities across the world.
Supervision
----------
You will be supervised by Prof. Lee Cronin (http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/lee.php) and will be part of the chemobots team within his group lead by Dr. Jonathan Grizou (http://jgrizou.com/). The chembots is a multi-disciplinary team of 7 scientists with expertise in chemistry, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The team aims to explore the use of robotics and AI as tools for the exploration of complex chemical systems.
How to apply
------------
Applicants should send a CV and cover letter to lee.c...@glasgow.ac.uk
The position will ideally start on the 27th of June or as soon as we will have found a suitable candidate.
About the topic
----------------------
The general objective of this research is to combine, develop, and evaluate algorithms for exploration of complex physicochemical systems. We take inspiration from the field of developmental robotics [1], with concepts such as goal babbling, intrinsic motivation, and maturational constraint [2,3], and apply them to the exploration of complex systems in the real world. Such systems cannot be simulated in practical times and experiments must thus be performed on the real system – raising a number of interesting challenges.
We recently demonstrated the use of robotics and artificial intelligence as tools to explore oils in water systems [4]. A robot equipped with an evolutionary algorithm was able to optimize efficiently oils ratio to elicit various droplet physical behaviors, such as movement, division, and vibration.
We are now exploring the open-ended exploration of such systems and the role of the environment as an experimental variable impacting the expression of physicochemical systems.
[1] Lungarella M, Metta G, Pfeifer R, Sandini G (2003) Developmental robotics: a survey. Conn Sci 15(4):151–190.
[2] PY Oudeyer, F Kaplan, VV Hafner (2007) Intrinsic motivation systems for autonomous mental development. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation
[3] Baranes A, Oudeyer P-Y (2011) The Interaction of Maturational Constraints and Intrinsic Motivations in Active Motor Development. International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL).
[4] Gutierrez JMP, Hinkley T, Taylor JW, Yanev K, Cronin L (2014) Evolution of oil droplets in a chemorobotic platform. Nat Commun 5:5571.
Skills and Profiles
----------
Prospective candidates should hold a master degree in computer science, machine learning, or robotics. A good knowledge of Python will be useful, as well as good abilities to tinker, build, and program simple robots. The candidate must have a strong willingness to work in an interdisciplinary project at the frontiers of computer science, robotics, and chemistry.
Ideally, the candidate will have practical experience with algorithms for exploration and learning in robotic scenarios and some knowledge or enthusiasm for materials science / chemistry.
The Cronin Group
----------
You will join the Cronin Group whose research is motivated by the fascination for complex chemical systems, and the desire to construct complex functional molecular architectures that are not based on biologically derived building blocks.
Recently the group started exploring new frontiers at the crossing point of chemistry, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The group is at the leading edge of this new field and brings together a unique blend of multi-disciplinary researchers from chemistry to computer vision and algorithmic discovery research.
The Cronin Group consists of Prof Lee Cronin, 5 Senior Researchers, 19 Post-Doctoral Researchers, 23 PhD Students, 2 Technicians, 3 Project Students, 1 Administrator. Prof. Lee Cronin has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles in a range of high impact journals and has given over 300 invited presentations at conferences and universities across the world.
Supervision
----------
You will be supervised by Prof. Lee Cronin (http://www.chem.gla.ac.uk/cronin/lee.php) and will be part of the chemobots team within his group lead by Dr. Jonathan Grizou (http://jgrizou.com/). The chembots is a multi-disciplinary team of 7 scientists with expertise in chemistry, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The team aims to explore the use of robotics and AI as tools for the exploration of complex chemical systems.
How to apply
------------
Applicants should send a CV and cover letter to lee.c...@glasgow.ac.uk
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