Connectionists: [jobs] PhD Fellowship in Continual Reinforcement Learning

[Vassilis Vassiliades]

Dear colleagues,

We are accepting applications for PhD fellowships at the CYENS Centre of
Excellence <https://www.cyens.org.cy/en-gb/>, located in sunny Nicosia,
Cyprus.

This post concerns the thematic area of *Continual Reinforcement Learning*.

*Short description*:
The field of reinforcement learning (RL) has seen tremendous progress over
the last few years. Despite their impressive (often superhuman)
performance, current RL systems suffer from the following drawbacks: (1)
they are “specialists” rather than “generalists”, i.e., they become highly
specialized to their current task, often forgetting completely how to solve
their previously learned tasks, and (2) they require enormous data and
computational resources for training. In contrast to such systems, human
learning is efficient and robust to changing environments. Our brains can
construct abstract predictive models from their sensorimotor experience
that permit efficient planning, rapidly assimilate new knowledge in memory,
and flexibly use it to build complex skills that are reused in many tasks.
This project aims to make a significant step towards the highly sought goal
of “artificial general intelligence”, by developing software agents that
continually acquire, reuse and improve a variety of skills, similarly to
humans. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to build on top
of the latest research on areas such as continual learning in deep neural
networks, hierarchical reinforcement learning, memory-augmented neural
networks, meta-learning, or open-endedness, and evaluate the developed
agents using simulated environments or physical robots.

The supervision team has expertise in machine learning, evolutionary
computation, signal processing, robotics, control, cognitive systems, and
neural-symbolic integration.

*Candidates for this post should possess:*

   1. M.Sc. Degree (or equivalent) from an accredited University in a
   relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Computer Engineering) with a focus
   on Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning.
   2. Excellent knowledge of English, including speaking and writing
   skills, as well as reading research articles.
   3. Strong programming skills (in Python and/or modern C++).
   4. Mathematical maturity (linear algebra, multivariate calculus &
   optimization, probability theory & statistics, algorithms & complexity,
   information theory).
   5. Ability to learn quickly and work independently, as well as in a team.


*Preferred qualifications include: *
Strong interest in neuroscience-inspired artificial intelligence.
Experience with reinforcement learning, deep learning, continual learning,
robotic simulators, or game engines will be considered an advantage.

*Responsible Multidisciplinary Research Group (MRG):*
The successful candidate will be assigned to CYENS’s "Learning Agents and
Robots" (LEAR) MRG. The successful candidate will be registered at the Open
University of Cyprus (OUC) but will be based at CYENS.

*For more information please contact:*
Vassilis Vassiliades (v.vassiliades at cyens.org.cy)

*CYENS Doctoral Training Program Committee*

   1. Vassilis Vassiliades, LEAR Team Leader, email:
   v.vassiliades at cyens.org.cy
   2. Loizos Michael (OUC & CYENS)
   3. Marc Deisenroth (University College London)


*Deadline*: 18 April 2022

*For more information about the application procedure and more thematic
areas please visit:*
https://www.cyens.org.cy/en-gb/vacancies/job-listings/research-department/phd-fellowships-cyens-doctoral-training-program/

Kind regards,
Vassilis Vassiliades
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