PhD Research Fellow in Self-Organising Maritime Autonomy

The Department of Marine Technology has a vacancy for a

PhD Research Fellow in Self-Organising Maritime Autonomy

NTNU is a broad-based university with atechnical-scientific profile and a focusin professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim.

At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the position

Join a leading research environment in autonomous maritime systems and contribute to developing the next generation of resilient robotic networks for critical maritime operations. As a PhD candidate, you will work at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems, with access to unique experimental infrastructure, including autonomous underwater and surface vehicles, advanced simulation environments, and field-testing facilities. You will be part of a collaborative and international research community, working closely with researchers, industry partners, and public stakeholders to address real-world challenges relevant to maritime security, environmental monitoring, and critical societal needs. This position offers excellent opportunities for scientific development, international networking, and a research career in a rapidly growing field.

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD research fellow with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a range of leading positions in business, administration, higher education and research.

Your immediate manager will be the supervising professor.

About the project

The project aims to develop resilient coordination architectures for networks of autonomous maritime robots operating in complex and communication-constrained environments. The research will investigate how heterogeneous fleets of autonomous underwater and surface vehicles can self-organise, negotiate roles, and adapt to changing mission requirements. The developed methods will be validated through simulation and experiments using real robotic platforms. The PhD candidate will be part of the AUR Lab research community, where researchers work closely across disciplines, contribute to each other's projects, and regularly participate in field campaigns using the lab’s autonomous robotic systems. The project contributes to strengthening maritime situational awareness and operational robustness in support of critical societal and security-related applications.

The project includes experimental work using a HUGIN autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) available through the Fjordlab infrastructure, providing a unique opportunity to develop and validate methods on state-of-the-art maritime robotic systems.

Duties of the position

• Complete doctoral education and obtain a doctorate
• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Participate in the research group AUR-Lab(link )
• Participate in field work when necessary
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions

Some changes to your work duties may occur after employment.

• You must have a relevant Master's degree in Marine Cybernetics, Control Engineering/Robotics, Marine operations, Underwater technology, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Risk/Reliability or Computer Science or equivalent educationor equivalent. Your degree must include a major independent project (minimum 30 ECTS) equivalent to a master’s thesis.
• Master students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than 01.11.2026.
• You must have a strong and relevant academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared toNTNU's grading scale . If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker academic background, you may be considered if you can document that you are exceptionally suited for a PhD education, for example through relevant work experience and/or peer-reviewed academic works.
• Applicants who do not master a Scandinavian language and do not have English as mother tongue, must document a thorough knowledge of English (equivalent to a TOEFL score of 600 or more).
• Parts of the research activities may involve access to seabed data subject to Norwegian security regulations. Candidates should therefore be eligible for security clearance at the level CONFIDENTIAL under Norweg