Applications close: 1st June 2025
Apply here: Research Associate in Robotics

The role:

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in dexterous bimanual manipulation.

The role will be based in Bristol Robotics Laboratory and the University of Bristol, co-supervised by Prof. Nathan Lepora and Dr Efi Psomopoulou.

The role is part of a €7M Horizon Europe-funded project on advancing the physical intelligence of robots toward human-like bimanual object manipulation. The researcher will have the benefit of being part of a large international collaboration of many leading European research groups in robotic manipulation, and a vibrant team of postdoctoral and PhD researchers in the Dexterous Robotics group (www.bristolroboticslab.com/dexterous-robotics).

The project introduces a novel technological framework for enabling robots to perform complex object manipulation tasks, allowing them to efficiently manipulate highly diverse objects with various properties in terms of shape, size and physical characteristics similarly to how humans do. We particularly focus on bimanual manipulation robots that can operate in challenging, real-world, possibly human-populated environments, and we further research, develop and fuse the necessary technologies in robot perception, cognition, mechatronics and control, to allow such, human-like, efficient robotic objects manipulation towards step changes in contemporary service robots.

The position will be based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory (www.brl.ac.uk) the largest centre for multidisciplinary robotics research in the UK. It will operate within the internationally-leading Dexterous Robotics Group at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, which is an exciting and vibrant research group with several recent lecturer appointment, 25 researchers and a range of state-of-the-art robot equipment. You will use dedicated facilities and expertise from the Robotics Lab in addition to those of the Faculties of Engineering and Science at the University of Bristol and project partners.

Particulars:

This is a open-ended position with fixed funding until 30/4/2027, starting as soon as possible.

You will be working in a team with the two supervisors, a another postdoctoral Research Associate and a PhD student.

Links:

Nathan Lepora’s research: www.lepora.com
Project website: https://manibot-project.eu/
Advert: Research Associate in Robotics

Contact:

Please contact Professor Nathan Lepora (n.lepora@bristol.ac.uk) and Dr Efi Psomopoulou (efi.psomopoulou@bristol.ac.uk) for informal enquiries about this post and to apply.