Connectionists: PhD Studentship: Steps Toward Enactive Artificial Intelligence.

[Daniel Polani]

UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE, UK

A collaborative Interfaculty Research Studentship of the School of
Computer Science (Adaptive Systems Research Group)/School of
Humanities (Philosophy) on "Steps towards Enactive Artificial
Intelligence" is available, to start in October 2007, or as soon as
possible thereafter.

Recent significant advances in the application of
information-theoretic formalisms to embodied agents have contributed
to clarify the role of an agent's embodiment and indicates possible
mechanisms for the self-organized formation of favoured concepts and
behaviours in both biological and artificial agents through
interaction with the environment over time. The PhD Studentship will
aim at further deepening our theoretical and practical understanding
of the interaction between external environment and the development of
the agent's internal models, with possible ramifications to addressing
issues in biological information processing and fundamental questions
of psychology and philosophy.

Applications are invited from candidates with excellent programming
skills and a very strong mathematical background from a suitable
quantitative discipline (e.g. computer science, mathematics,
physics). While previous knowledge is not required, the candidate
should have a strong interest in artificial intelligence, artificial
life and/or philosophy of cognition and a keen ambition to contribute
to these fields. Experience in autonomous robots would be useful, but
is not required.  The PhD will be supervised by Daniel Polani and
Daniel Hutto.

Closing date for applications: 7th September 2007

Please note that, due to funding body restrictions, eligibility is
limited to UK and EU citizens.

For an application form, please email: research.studentships at herts.ac.uk
For further information on the project, please email: d.polani at herts.ac.uk

See also the homepages:

Daniel Polani: http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqdp1/
Daniel Hutto:  http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/uhinfo/schools/hum/subject/phil/staff/hutto/hutto_home.cfm

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The Adaptive Systems Research Group in the Centre for Computer Science
and Informatics Research of STRI is a strongly interdisciplinary team
including roboticists, biologists, cognitive scientists,
mathematicians and computer scientists. Members of the group are
internationally leading in research including social and developmental
robotics, emotion modelling, evolution of sensors and the
perception-action loop. Associated to the group is the Hertfordshire
Interactive Systems and Robotics Laboratory that is particularly
suited for experiments involving physical robots. The laboratory has a
range of small and medium-sized mobile robotic platforms as well as
humanoid robots. Group members are currently involved in the following
FP6 projects: Robotcub, Cogniron, Feelix Growing, eCircus, Iromec,
Humaine, euCognition, and Euron. The group, consists of 5 core
academic leaders, 15 research fellows and 14 PhD students plus a
regular influx of shorter-term research visitors from other leading
labs in Japan and the EU.  More information about the group can be
found at: URL: http://adapsys.feis.herts.ac.uk/