Phd Student In Industrial Engineering And Management With A Focus On Multimodal AI And XR For Manufacturing Skill Transfer

PhD Student in Industrial Engineering and Management with a Focus on Multimodal AI and XR for Manufacturing Skill Transfer

Are you interested in working with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and eXtended Reality (XR) in real-world manufacturing applications, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a PhD position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering consists of three divisions: Quality Science, Industrial Engineering and Management and Civil Engineering and Built Environment. The department has approximately 100 employees and has its research and education both at the Ångström Laboratory in Uppsala and at Campus Gotland. This position will be based at the Division of Industrial Engineering in Uppsala.

The Division of Industrial Engineering and Management is a broad, interdisciplinary subject that spans several sub-areas ranging from organization and management, innovation and entrepreneurship as well as industrial and social marketing within technology and innovation-intensive activities to automation and optimization, to machine design, production and production systems. The Division of Industrial Engineering and Management offers a collaborative and innovative research environment, working closely with industry to address real-world challenges in digital transformation. The division is known for its strong links to Swedish industry, a dynamic research culture, and focus on practical impact and innovation.

As a PhD student here, you will be part of a supportive team, with access to cutting-edge XR and AI research infrastructure and development opportunities through both academic and industrial partnerships. For more information, see the webpage of the division.

Duties

You will conduct research as part of a project, which develops an adaptive AI-guided XR platform for capturing and transferring expert manufacturing knowledge. Your focus will be on developing AI methods for analyzing and modeling human workflows based on data from manufacturing sensors and XR headsets (video, audio, motion). This includes building multimodal AI pipelines, generating procedural representations, and contributing to the integration of real-time feedback in XR environments. You will work closely with industrial partners to access data, validate solutions in real environments, and ensure the applicability of the developed methods.

The main task of a doctoral student is to devote to the doctoral education, which includes both participation in research projects and doctoral education courses. The position may include up to 20% teaching and administrative duties.

Requirements

To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must:

• hold a Master's (second-cycle) degree, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master's level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or.
• have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

For this specific position, examples of relevant educational backgrounds and combinations include: industrial engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, information technology, or related engineering discipline.

We expect you to have:

• Ability to assimilate knowledge at the research level.
• Understanding and experience in machine learning and computer vision.
• Knowledge, experience, and strong interest and in AI and XR development.
• Knowledge and experience of programming (e.g., Python, C#, C++).
• Ability in teamwork and to work both independently and in groups.
• English language proficiency.
• Personal characteristics such as structured approach to problem-solving, self-driven, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

We will evaluate the candidates based on the above assessment criteria.

Additional Qualifications

Experience with Unity or XR development, deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow), or real-time sensor data processing is considered a strong merit. Prior experience in reinforcement learning, multimodal AI, or knowledge representation is also advantageous. Experience of collaboration with industry is a plus. Knowledge of Swedish language is considered a merit.

Application

Your application should include:

• Cover letter including a Statement of Purpose, written in English, where you explain your motivation, research interests and expectations from the doctoral program. It should also include brief description of experience relevant to the position and the candidate criteria stated above.
• CV
• Certificates/grades and other qualifications that you want to invoke.
• Academic degree and transcript
• Thesis work and other relevant documents that demonstrates your ability of
• written communication.
• Publications
• Recommendation letters from at least two referees who may be contacted.

Applications should be preferably submitted in English. We will review applications continuously and invite candidates for interviews during the application period.

About the Employment

The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact: Kaveh Amouzgar, email: kaveh.amouzgar@angstrom.uu.se.

Please submit your application by 30 September 2025, UFV-PA 2025/2533.