Details & Application

The DAAD AInet Fellowship is awarded twice a year to a group of outstanding international early career researchers in the field of artificial intelligence. Awardees will be invited to join the Postdoctoral Networking Tour in Artificial Intelligence (Postdoc-NeT-AI), a hybrid networking program that brings them face-to-face with leading researchers with the goal to initiate collaborations and career opportunities. Additionally, awardees will be included in the DAAD AInet Fellows & Alumni Network, offering you a long-term gateway to German AI research, and bringing you together with other bright researchers from all over the world.

The Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 – AI and Robotics

The Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 in AI and Robotics brings together leading German research institutions in AI and Robotics covering a wide range of AI-based methods for robotics, from robot control and perception to autonomous, learning, and bioinspired robots to cooperation in multirobot systems and interaction with humans.

Successful candidates will get a comprehensive insight into German robotics research and have the chance to connect personally with leading researchers during the virtual networking week and individual on-site visits.

The Virtual Networking Week | 7-11 March 2022

The first part of the hybrid Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 in AI and Robotics is the Virtual Networking Week from 7-11 March 2022. During that week the host institutions will present themselves during daily virtual visits and invite selected participants for virtual one-on-one meetings. Successful candidates will also have the chance to get to know the work of the other participants and connect to them during a virtual poster session before the actual networking week.

One-week travel stipends

The second part of the Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 comprises the funding for an individual one-week trip to Germany (extendable by one week at your own expense). Participant can use this week to follow up on the virtual networking week and visit institutions and individual researchers to deepen the contacts.

Get a comprehensive overview of the German AI research landscape and career options:
- Learn about AI research and funding opportunities in Germany directly from the experts at the AInet Open Days (open to all applicants),
- get to know the strong and broad German AI research system and the various career paths it offers through the selected institutions at the Virtual Networking Week,
- get individual advice and exclusive access to funding opportunities by the DAAD.
Get in touch directly with leading researchers from your field to discuss opportunities for collaborations and employment:
- Seize the unique chance of one-on-one meetings with top-researchers from the host institutions to initiate continuing relations,
- visit the institutions and Germany in person with DAAD’s one-week travel stipend,
- benefit from the connections within the growing DAAD AInet Partner Network.
Create long-term ties with other fellows and the German AI research community:
- Stay connected to the DAAD and former fellows through the DAAD AInet Fellows & Alumni Network,
- join one of the DAAD AInet Working Groups to be connected among each other and with research and networking opportunities according to your specific interests.
Candidates should have:
- a very strong scientific track record evidenced by relevant publications and/or academic accomplishments,
- obtained a PhD/doctorate no longer than 5 years ago – candidates for a PhD/doctorate should be in their final year before their defense,
- experience (or at least demonstrated interest) in the host institutions’ areas of research,
- not been affiliated with a German institution during the last two years.

The host institutions for the Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 in AI and Robotics are:

University of Bremen (, )

TU Darmstadt (, )

University of Freiburg ()

Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems ()

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology ()

DLR-Robotics is closely linked to the topic of artificial intelligence (AI). After all, robots are built to do something – and in order for them to know what to do and how, they need a certain intelligence.

The topics are relevant for many application domains:

Lightweight robot technology is leading to increasingly safe human-robot interaction. In the future, robotic assistance systems could be used to support and relieve caregivers. At the same time, the independence of caregivers in the outpatient sector could be increased so massively, whether in terms of everyday tasks or their mobility.

At the TUM the primary mission is the design, sensorbased programming, and control of complex robotic systems for manipulation and locomotion. The main field of application is the robotic assistance in industrial production, medical and health-care applications up to personal assistance systems.

The Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems at the University of Lübeck works in the field of medical and industrial robotics, and intelligent systems. Our research is interdisciplinary between medicine, computer science, physics, mathematics, and the engineering sciences. Scientists from our institute were actively involved in the development of the world's first radiosurgery robot. Current projects range from rescue robotics to ultrasound robotics and mobile robots in organic farming. Further medical applications are in orthopedic surgery, cardiology, and neurology. We focus on mathematical methods for motion planning, image-supported navigation and inverse planning and also build actual robots and sensor systems.

The Computational Biophysics and Bioborotics group (CBB) is interested in autonomous muscle-driven motion. We work on understanding design principles of the biological motion apparatus, non-linear dynamics of motion, somatosensory motor control and morphological intelligence. To achieve this, we combine biomechanics, biomimetics, biological cybernetics, biological physics and bioengineering to better understand biological systems and develop concepts for engineered muscle-driven systems.

The Cluster of Excellence (SCIoI) focuses on better understanding intelligence in all its facets, exploring which fundamental laws and principles underlie different forms of intelligence whether artificial or biological, whether robot, computer program, human, or animal, and how we can apply these principles to create intelligent technology.

The of SCIoI are directly reflected in its structure consisting of four research units, each devoted to one of the main research objectives: (1) We examine and build intelligent behavior in order to understand it. (2) Because we examine a wide range of intelligent agents and behaviors, we can extract general principles of intelligence. Our synthetic approach to intelligence research (“learning by building”) requires us to (3) advance the synthetic components of intelligence. Intelligence research inevitably raises ethical questions, and meta-research can help us understand (4) how to deal with such ethical questions and understand the right methodology for intelligence research. These four main research objectives of SCIoI are directly reflected in four research units, the main organizational unit in SCIoI research.

The (DFKI) combines scientific excellence and business-oriented value creation with social appreciation. Since its foundation in 1988, the DFKI has been researching artificial intelligence (AI) for humans and is oriented towards social relevance and scientific excellence. Around 1,250 employees from over 65 nations work at the DFKI at numerous locations in Germany.

The , headed by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Frank Kirchner is part of the location of the DFKI in Bremen. Here, an interdisciplinary team is developing next-generation mobile robots that can independently solve complex tasks in water, in space and in our everyday lives and interact safely with humans and their environment. In doing so, the research area works closely with the robotics group at the University of Bremen.

Autonomy, adaptability and network integration are characteristic features of complex IT systems. Conventional control systems and architectures are no longer adequate to realize the potential of these technologies completely, nor are they sufficient to master the complexity of such systems. The solution is to design selected components as “autonomous systems” which can act mainly on themselves without external control most of the time. Data-driven and classical artificial intelligence provide a rich toolset to tackle these challenges.The research in the group at the is defined not only by the work of the professors and doctoral students, but also by that of the approximately 80 students on the eponymous Master's programme , which opens up research-oriented studies in modern robotics and artificial intelligence to outstanding students from all over the world. Small teams, close supervision and collegial relationships define the working atmosphere on our campus. We look forward to your visit!

The is a Cluster of Excellence at TU Dresden. In the future, humans should be able to interact in real time with robots or machines in the real or virtual world. The aim of the research is to democratize access to skills and expertise in order to promote equal opportunities for people of different gender, age, cultural background or physical limitations. Scientists from the fields of electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, psychology, medicine and neuroscience work together in an interdisciplinary way to create the basis for novel applications in medicine, industry and the Internet of Skills.
The program for the Postdoc Networking Tour 3/2022 will be availale here soon.

The Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 – AI and Robotics

The Virtual Networking Week | 7-11 March 2022

One-week travel stipends

What successful candidates can expect

Get a comprehensive overview of the German AI research landscape and career options:

Get in touch directly with leading researchers from your field to discuss opportunities for collaborations and employment:

Create long-term ties with other fellows and the German AI research community:

What we expect

Candidates should have:

The host institutions 3/2022

The host institutions for the Postdoc-NeT-AI 3/2022 in AI and Robotics are:

Program 3/2022