Postdoctoral position in Perception for Autonomous Manipulation for Mobile Robot

About this position

Commitment & contract: Fixed-term contract with renewal option

Location: IIT - Center for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, Via S. Quirico 19d, 16163 Genova, Italy

Starting period: To be agreed, according to project and candidate availability

Step into a world of endless possibilities, together let’s leave something for the future!

At IIT, we are committed to advancing human-centered Science and Technology to address the most urgent societal challenges of our era. We foster excellence in both fundamental and applied research, spanning fields such as neuroscience and cognition, humanoid technologies and robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and material sciences, offering a truly interdisciplinary scientific experience. Our approach integrates cutting-edge tools and technology, empowering researchers to push the limits of knowledge and innovation.

With us, your curiosity will know no bounds. We are dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities and fostering diversity in all its forms, creating an inclusive environment. We value the unique experiences, knowledge, backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives of our people.

By embracing diversity, we believe science can achieve its fullest potential.

THE ROLE

The Humanoids & Human Centred Mechatronics Research Unit is seeking an exceptional and highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to develop advanced perception and autonomous manipulation methods for mobile robotic systems operating in complex, dynamic environments

The successful candidate will contribute to the development of perception-to-action capabilities that enable robots to understand their surroundings, localize objects, reason about scene geometry and semantics, and perform autonomous manipulation and navigation tasks. The work will focus on bridging robust perception, 3D scene understanding, object and environment representation, for enabling autonomous manipulation for real robotic platforms.

You will join a multicultural and multidisciplinary research team with strong expertise in robot design, modelling, control, whole-body loco-manipulation, balancing, physical interaction, teleoperation, and autonomous robotic systems. The Research Line is coordinated by Nikos Tsagarakis, whose work spans robotics, mechatronics, and control for advanced legged and mobile platforms.

This position offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge robotic systems, including mobile and legged robots, equipped with single and dual arm manipulation systems. The candidate will be encouraged to publish high-impact research, contribute to international collaborations, and develop solutions that can be validated on real robotic hardware.

• Access to state-of-the-art robotic platforms and experimental facilities.
• A highly interdisciplinary and international research environment.
• Opportunities to publish in leading robotics venues.
• Collaboration with experts in mechatronics, control, perception, AI, and robot design.
• The possibility to contribute to European and international research projects.
• A stimulating environment focused on both scientific excellence and real-world robotic impact.

Main responsibilities

• Development of robust perception pipelines for mobile robots and autonomous manipulation.
• Object detection, classification, pose estimation, tracking, and localization.
• Perception methods for grasping, manipulation, interaction, and task execution.
• Sensor fusion using RGB-D cameras, LiDAR, inertial sensors, and other perception modalities.
• Localization, mapping, and situational awareness in dynamic environments.
• Integration of perception modules with whole-body manipulation control systems.
• Validation of algorithms in simulation and on physical robotic platforms.
• Contribution to publications, project deliverables, software documentation, and experimental reports.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENT

• PhD in Robotics, Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Mechatronics, or related disciplines.
• Strong background in robot perception and autonomous robotic systems.
• Experience in object detection, semantic segmentation, object pose estimation, feature extraction.
• Experience with perception for robotic manipulation, grasping and object localization
• Experience in machine learning or deep learning methods applied to perception and manipulation skill learning.
• Practical experience with perception sensors such as RGB-D cameras, stereo cameras, LiDAR, IMUs, radar, GPS, or related calibration methods.
• Strong software development skills in C++, Python, Linux, and ROS/ROS2.
• Experience with simulation-to-real transfer using tools such as Gazebo, Isaac Sim, MuJoCo or similar environments.
• Experience designing, implementing, testing, and integrating robust perception and manipulation algorithms on real robotic systems.
• Familiarity with frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, PCL, CUDA, or related GPU-accelerated tools.
• Strong publication record appropriate to career stage.
• Ability to organize, document, report, and publish research results.
• Good communication skills in English.

ADDITIONAL SKILL

• Hands-on experience with mobile or legged robots.
• Experience in autonomous manipulation, grasp planning, affordance detection, or perception-guided control.
• Experience with active perception, multi-modal perception, or uncertainty-aware perception.
• Familiarity with motion planning and manipulation frameworks
• Experience with software integration, testing and collaborative software development.
• Strong problem-solving attitude and analytical thinking.
• Creativity, independence, and ability to work collaboratively in a highly interdisciplinary environment.
• High motivation to learn and contribute to ambitious robotic research.
• Good time and priority management skills.

COMPENSATION PACKAGE

• A yearly gross salary ranging between 30.000 and 40.000 euro.
• Private health care coverage
• Candidates from abroad or Italian citizens who have carried scientific research activity permanently abroad and meet specific requirements, may be entitled to a deduction from taxable income of up to 90% from 6 to 13 years.

This open position is financed by

Project

“Sistemi Cibernetici Collaborativi – Robot Teleoperativo 3” (Collaborative Cybernetic Systems – Robotic Teleoperation 3) – INAIL Project

CUP

J53C24000520005 and

Project

"MATISSE - Model-based engineering of Digital Twins for early verification and validation of Industrial Systems" - Project HORIZON-KDT-JU-2023-2-RIA Grant n. 101140216 -

CUP

J53C24001600007

Please submit your application through the online form, including:

• A detailed CV.
• A cover letter outlining your motivation, experience, and qualifications.
• Any relevant documents demonstrating previous research, software, or robotic system development experience.
• 2 reference letters

Application deadline: Open until filled

To discover more about life at IIT, visit: https://www.iit.it/en/work-at-iit