Connectionists: Two Max Planck Research Group Leader Openings in Robotics and Learning at MPI for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany

[Georg Martius]

Dear colleagues,

I am happy to announce two open group leader positions at the Max Planck 
Institute for Intelligent System, Germany (MPI-IS, https://is.mpg.de).
These positions are similar to a professor position for 5 years, without 
teaching and without tenure. Working environment is all in English. 
Deadline January 7, 2024.


Here the full job advert:

The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent System (MPI-IS, 
https://is.mpg.de) seeks to understand the principles of perception, 
action, and learning in autonomous systems that successfully interact 
with complex environments, and to use this understanding to design 
artificial intelligent systems. We take a highly interdisciplinary 
approach that combines mathematics, computation, engineering, materials 
science, and biology.

The Stuttgart site of the institute concentrates on physical 
realizations of intelligent systems, often with medical applications. We 
currently have departments in the broad fields of small-scale robotics 
(Metin Sitti), haptics (Katherine J. Kuchenbecker), and robotic 
materials (Christoph Keplinger), as well as independent research groups 
that emphasize soft actuation (Florian Hartmann), biological inspiration 
(Wenqi Hu), and human organizations (Ksenia Keplinger). The closely 
connected Tübingen site of our institute pursues outstanding research in 
machine learning, computer vision, and related topics. MPI-IS is a 
founding partner of Cyber Valley (https://cyber-valley.de/en), a 
research consortium in artificial intelligence and robotics that enables 
researchers to closely collaborate with startups and industry.

We are looking for outstanding candidates in the field of intelligent 
systems to establish up to two new independent research groups at our 
institute's Stuttgart site in beautiful southern Germany. The closing 
date for applications is January 7, 2024. Top applicants will be invited 
to an in-person selection symposium with public talks on Tuesday, 
February 27, and private interviews on February 28, 2024. (Please mark 
your calendar for the talks!)

Potential areas of research can include, but are not limited to, the 
following:

Robotics, all areas, especially
	• Soft robotics
	• Bioinspired or biohybrid robotics
	• Physical intelligence at all length scales
	• Robotic materials
	• Electronic skin and stretchable electronics
	• Sustainable robots
	• Intelligent driving and power electronics for untethered robots

Human-Machine Interaction (HMI), including
	• Human-robot interaction (HRI)
	• Wearable robots
	• Haptic interfaces
	• Social aspects of intelligent systems
	• Intelligent systems for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

Robotics for Healthcare, including
	• Medical robotics
	• Novel medical devices
	• Surgical robotics
	• Rehabilitation robotics

Learning Systems, including
	• Robot learning
	• Machine learning (ML)
	• Computer vision (CV)
	• Intelligent control systems

Max Planck Research Group Leader positions offer individuals holding a 
doctoral degree an excellent springboard to high-level scientific 
positions. Candidates should have a strong international track record of 
creative research. Successful applicants will be able to establish an 
internationally visible research program of their own design within our 
institute. To help them recruit and mentor doctoral students, they will 
be nominated as faculty in the International Max Planck Research School 
on Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS, https://imprs.is.mpg.de).

The salary package is based on the W2 remuneration group of the German 
Federal Civil Service Remuneration Act (Bundesbesoldungsgesetz – BBesG). 
Successful candidates will enjoy an independent principal investigator 
status within the institute. Group leaders are provided with 
considerable funding for personnel, equipment, and running costs, which 
enables them to focus the bulk of their energy on their research. Group 
leaders and their group members also benefit from the infrastructure and 
administration of MPI-IS.

Each Max Planck Research Group is initially funded for a term of six 
years. Depending on research progress, and taking funding possibilities 
and labor legislation into account, a group leader’s employment contract 
can be extended by three years at most once, on an individual basis 
according to scientific criteria and after a positive evaluation.

The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems is an equal-opportunity 
employer dedicated to excellence through diversity and does not 
discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, disability, sexual 
orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, gender identity, 
or any other non-job-related criteria. MPI-IS recognizes the importance 
of a multicultural community of students, faculty, and staff who seek to 
advance our commitment to diversity. We are committed to attracting and 
retaining diverse staff and will honor each individual’s experiences, 
perspectives, and unique identity. Together, our community strives to 
create and maintain working and learning environments that are 
inclusive, equitable, and welcoming. The Max Planck Society wishes to 
increase the number of women in those areas where they are 
underrepresented; women are therefore explicitly encouraged to apply. 
The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of 
employees with severe disabilities in its workforce; applications from 
persons with severe disabilities are expressly desired.

Applications should contain a short cover letter; a three-page research 
statement describing your past, present, and future research activities; 
a one-page diversity statement describing your experiences and 
commitments to diversity; and a CV including your full list of 
publications. All documents should be prepared in English and should be 
submitted as a single pdf file through our online application system 
before 23:59 CET on January 7, 2024 (firm deadline):
https://url.is.mpg.de/apply-mpi-is-stuttgart-2023

In addition, three reference letters must be submitted directly by the 
referees. After you have registered in our online application system, 
you will receive further information about how these letters should be 
submitted.

The full details of this job opening are also available online:
https://is.mpg.de/jobs/research-group-leader-stuttgart

Should you have any questions about this exciting opportunity, please 
feel free to write to Katherine J. Kuchenbecker at kjk at is.mpg.de.