Doctoral students in Automatic Control - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Automatic Control is an exciting and broad subject, covering both advanced mathematics and hands-on engineering. Historically, it has been instrumental in many areas, from the early development of telecommunications to the space race. Today, driven by the need to engineer ever larger systems, Automatic Control is more relevant than ever.

Description of workplace

The department of Automatic control has a stimulating and international environment with PhD students, postdocs, and teachers coming from all corners of the world. Research and teaching are conducted in an open and progressive atmosphere with collaborations both within academia and with industry, nationally as well as internationally. A PhD degree from the Department of Automatic control gives you the perfect base for an exciting career, be it in academia or industry. Lund University and the Department of Automatic Control welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

We are now recruiting PhD students. Exemples of two projects:

The first project is led by Martina Maggio, is devoted to design of controllers that are robust to external disturbances, model simplification, and modelling inaccuracy. This robustness also carries to computational problems. However, usually the analysis for these systems are deterministic while the fault models are probabilistic. This project aims at bringing the probabilistic fault analysis into the analysis of control systems that experience faults and failures, especially with respect to complex control pipelines. 

The second project is led by Anders Rantzer and is devoted control of large-scale systems. This project is motivated by a rapid growth of applications where digital controllers interact with networked dynamical systems. This includes networks for transportation, communication and energy supply, but also industrial production, logistics and health care. The project is focused on theory and methodology that supports scalability and adaptivity in design and operation of such systems. 

Depending on funding opportunities, also other projects could become available in the near future.

Work duties

The PhD position consists of three main aspects:

• research project, including trips to conferences, seminars etc.
• postgraduate courses, locally and internationally given (90 ECTS credits), and
• teaching (at most 20%), including lab supervision and exam responsibilities. This part may also include departmental services, such as working with equality and diversity, arranging events etc.

Admission requirements

A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if the applicant: 

• has been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

A person meets the specific admission requirements for third cycle studies in Automatic control if the applicant has: 

• knowledge corresponding to course FRT010 Automatic Control, Basic Course and a second cycle specialisation of relevance to the subject, or
• an MSc in engineering or corresponding qualification

Additional requirements

• Very good oral and written proficiency in English
• Good language analytical ability.
• Curiosity about research and teaching in general, and motivation for the particular research project.
• Creativity with good ability for cooperation and networking.

Assessment criteria

Selection for third-cycle studies is based on the student’s potential to profit from such studies. The assessment of potential is made primarily on the basis of academic results from the first and second cycle. Special attention is paid to the following: 

1. Knowledge and skills relevant to the thesis project and the subject of study.
2. An assessment of ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems.
3. Written and oral communication skills.
4. Other experience relevant to the third-cycle studies, e.g. professional experience. 

Assessment considerations include grades, certificates, and references, but also, for instance, Master’s thesis project and experience from industry, as well as the applicants’ competence within the research projects in question. Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant, through experience and skills, is deemed to have the abilities necessary for successfully completing the third cycle programme.

We offer

Lund University is a public authority which means that employees get particular benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension scheme. 
Read more on the University website about being a Lund University employee Work at Lund University. 

Terms of employment

Only those admitted to third cycle studies may be appointed to a doctoral studentship. Third cycle studies at LTH consist of full-time studies for 4 years. A doctoral studentship is a fixed-term employment of a maximum of 5 years (including 20% departmental duties). Doctoral studentships are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), chapter 5, 1-7 §§. A doctoral student will receive a competitive monthly salary of 33000 SEK with yearly raise. We intend to hire 2-4 PhD students.

Instructions on how to apply

Applications shall be written in English and include a cover letter stating the reasons why you are interested in the position and in what way the research project corresponds to your interests and educational background. The application must also contain a CV, degree certificate or equivalent, and other documents you wish to be considered (grade transcripts, contact information for your references, letters of recommendation, etc.).