MPI for Intelligent Systems

Positions on Embodied Social Interaction at MPI for Intelligent Systems

The Embodied Social Interaction Group (led by Dr. Philipp Müller) at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, offers several fully funded PhD positions. The group’s goal is to build the foundations for the next generation of embodied AI systems capable of integrating into human social life. To achieve this, we combine methods and approaches from multimodal AI, human–robot interaction, and psychology.

We invite applications from highly motivated and creative students with a strong academic background in computer science (machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing), psychology, or robotics, who are interested in the following or related topics:

• Multimodal human behavior sensing and interpretation
• Human–robot interaction
• Social touch
• Fairness in multimodal interaction
• Medical applications, e.g., in psychiatry

The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. In the Embodied Social Interaction Group, we believe that including diverse experiences and perspectives is essential—both from an ethical standpoint and for achieving high-quality research. We explicitly encourage applications from individuals and communities that are underrepresented in our field.

If you are interested in pursuing your PhD with us, please apply through the IMPRS-IS program (https://imprs.is.mpg.de/) by November 15.
Note: In the application portal, you will be able to select Philipp Müller as a prospective faculty member only after November 1. Nonetheless, we strongly encourage you to begin preparing your application as soon as possible. Alternatively, you may apply to the PhD program of the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems (https://learning-systems.org/), which offers a co-supervision model between a faculty member at MPI-IS and ETH Zürich. The application deadline for this program is November 5.

In case of any further questions, please get in touch with Philipp Müller (mueller@is.mpg.de). Also, feel free to have a look at my previous publications to get an idea of my work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RmcYRGAAAAAJ