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3 PhD scholarship positions offered by ALARIS and Nazarbayev University
deadline May 20, 2017
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The Astana LAboratory for Robotic and Intelligent Systems (ALARIS) and Nazarbayev University (NU) have 3 open PhD positions in Rehabilitation, Assistive and Wearable Robotics areas:
– Development and Control of an Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot (Wrist Exoskeleton) for Post-Stroke Adult Patient and Children Rehabilitation (in cooperation with the Republican Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Astana)
– Development of an Intelligent Assistive Robot Manipulation System (The 3rd Hand) for Human-Robot Cooperative Assembly Tasks (in cooperation with the University of Leicester, UK, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie and Institute Francais de Mecanique Avancee, France)
– Development of a Low-Cost Robotized Upper Limb Prothesis
The PhD candidates, citizens of Kazakhstan, will be considered for awarding a state postgraduate research scholarship covering the cost of studying at NU, an attractive monthly stipend and student accommodation on campus. In addition, an employment as a part-time teaching assistant (up to 0.5 rate appointment) in the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics can be arranged.
Application Procedure:
Please contact Dr. Almas Shintemirov at ashintemirov@nu.edu.kz before 18 May, 2107 for informal inquiry regarding the PhD application and PhD project proposal writing . You are kindly asked to provide your (i) no more than 0.5-1 page motivation letter describing your research interests and goals, (ii) CV, (iii) transcripts, (iv) certificates, (v) contacts for two references, and (vi) relevant publications or other supporting documents you may consider helpful (if any) in PDF format.
Formal applications for research degree study should be made online to the PhD in Science, Engineering and Technology program through the Nazarbayev University admission website
Please state clearly in the admission application form that the PhD track you wish to be considered for is Robotics (within the SST Department of Robotics and Mechatronics), and the proposed PhD supervisor is Dr. Almas Shintemirov.
Application deadline May 20, 2017.
Details of the PhD themes:
Theme #1 : Development and Control of an Upper Limb Rehabilitation Robot (Wrist Exoskeleton) for Post-Stroke Adult Patient and Children Rehabilitation (in cooperation with the Republican Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Astana)
The research project aims to accelerate the development and application of robotic rehabilitation in Kazakhstan. Robotic rehabilitation is an effective platform for sensorimotor training in persons suffering a cerebral vascular accident (stroke) and children with movement disorders. The PhD student will focus on designing a fully functioning prototype of a novel wrist rehabilitation robot system with a human-robot interface. Assist-as-needed control algorithms will be researched and implemented to allow flexible robot rehabilitation performance that can be later tested through clinical trials.
The research will start with upper limb (wrist) rehabilitation but the results will contribute to the development of other medical robot devices that require physical interaction with human.
This research is to investigate the following four fundamental issues:
1. the technological evolution of machines for physical exercise
2. new methods for evaluation of rehabilitation performances
3. advanced control methods for human robot interaction
4. real-time embedded control system design
Requirements: We are seeking for highly motivated candidates with (or be expecting) a Master’s Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Engineering or a closely related field.
Required skills:
– Excellent English language skills: PhD program has a mandatory level of English language proficiency equal to an IELTS overall grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the subtests or a TOEFL score of 232 for Computer-Based Test (CBT), 575 for Paper-Based Test (PBT) and 90 for Internet-Based Test (IBT) or a CPEoverall score of 45 and pass in all components. Applicants, who obtained university level degree in educational institutions with English as the language of instruction, are exempt from the provision of the English language proficiency test reports.
– Good computer programming skills, preferably in MATLAB and C/C++.
– Previous background/experience in 3D CAD mechanism design and/or electric motor control system design.
– Good analytical and self-development skills.
– Ability to work independently.
Desired skills:
– Previous research experience in mechanical/control engineering;
– Experience of preparing research publications.
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Theme #2: Development of an Intelligent Assistive Robot Manipulation System (The 3rd Hand) for Human-Robot Cooperative Assembly Tasks (in cooperation with the University of Leicester, UK, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie and Institute Francais de Mecanique Avancee, France)
The PhD research project addresses the needs of Kazakhstan’s economy in developing and application of innovative digital technologies contributing to technological modernization (automation and robotization) of Kazakhstan’s economy towards “Industry 4.0” standards. Currently, industrial robot-manipulators are widely applied for various automated tasks in standardized industrial processes that require monotonic execution of preprogrammed repetitive tasks with high precision and/or productivity. The project aims to create an intelligent robot assistive system (The 3rd hand) for flexible human-robot collaborative assembly tasks in industrial settings by designing a novel interactive control interface for a 6 degrees-of-freedom robot-manipulator involving development of robotic vision and machine learning algorithms for human operator intent recognition and autonomous object recognition and grasping by the robot.
The research will be focused on intiituve real-time control of a state-of-the-art industrial robot-manipulator but the research results will also contribute to the development of medical assistive robotic systems for disabled people support that require physical interaction with human.
Requirements: We are seeking for highly motivated candidates with (or be expecting) a Master’s Degree in Electrical, Computer Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Engineering, Applied Math and Computer Science or a closely related field.
Required skills:
– Excellent English language skills: PhD program has a mandatory level of English language proficiency equal to an IELTS overall grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the subtests or a TOEFL score of 232 for Computer-Based Test (CBT), 575 for Paper-Based Test (PBT) and 90 for Internet-Based Test (IBT) or a CPEoverall score of 45 and pass in all components. Applicants, who obtained university level degree in educational institutions with English as the language of instruction, are exempt from the provision of the English language proficiency test reports.
– Excellent mathematical skills.
– Excellent computer programming skills, preferably in C/C++.
– Previous background/experience in machine learning and/or image processing.
– Good analytical and self-development skills.
– Ability to work independently.
Desired skills:
– Previous research experience in electronics/embedded system design.
– Experience of preparing research publications.
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Theme #3: Development of a Low-Cost Robotized Upper Limb Prosthesis
The research project aims to address urgent need for low-cost robotized upper limb prostheses in Kazakhstan. The PhD student will focus on designing a fully functioning prototype of a novel anthropomorphic robot hand and prosthesis with a human-robot interface. Research will include mechanical desing of the prototype, battery powered finger actuator embedded control system desing. Different myoelectric interfaces for user intent recognition will be researched and adopted in the prosthesis prototype. Relevant hand control algorithms will be also developed. It is expected that by the end of the project the prototype will be ready for trial testing.
The research will start with upper limb prosthesis but the results will contribute to the development of other medical robot devices that require physical interaction with human.
Requirements: We are seeking for highly motivated candidates with (or be finishing) a Master’s Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Robotics, Mechatronics, Control Engineering or a closely related field.
Required skills:
– Excellent English language skills: PhD program has a mandatory level of English language proficiency equal to an IELTS overall grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the subtests or a TOEFL score of 232 for Computer-Based Test (CBT), 575 for Paper-Based Test (PBT) and 90 for Internet-Based Test (IBT) or a CPEoverall score of 45 and pass in all components. Applicants, who obtained university level degree in educational institutions with English as the language of instruction, are exempt from the provision of the English language proficiency test reports.
– Good computer programming skills, preferably in MATLAB and C/C++.
– Previous background/experience in 3D CAD mechanism design and/or electric motor control system design.
– Good analytical and self-development skills.
– Ability to work independently.
Desired skills:
– Previous research experience in mechanical/control engineering;
– Experience of preparing research publications.
