Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) has a vacancy in the "Intelligent and Autonomous Systems" research group for a talented
PhD in Automated Negotiation and Multi-agent SystemsJob descriptionThe world of trading is changing rapidly. Whereas in the past, people would contact their vendors personally over phone or e-mail, online peer-to-peer trading platforms now make it possible for vendors to negotiate in a more effective and scalable way. This creates a new opportunity to use
artificial intelligence techniques and negotiation agents that can support vendors in their negotiations and eventually make deals autonomously on their behalf. This requires a combination of a state-of-the-art multi-agent and machine learning techniques that can support the user in making efficient offers and learn the preferences of the user as well as of the trading partners.
The aim of the vacant position is to develop fundamental and applicable solutions for agent negotiations and to develop a new online trading framework. Depending on the interests and expertise of the candidate, the project draws on tools and techniques from
artificial intelligence, multi-agent learning, combinatorics, preference modeling and elicitation, protocol design, machine learning, automated negotiation, decision support systems, and
sequential multi-agent decision-making under uncertainty. One of the scientific challenges in this project will be to formulate negotiation strategies that can strike partial deals with multiple partners at the same time.
The project is a collaboration between CWI and Utrecht University, and the applicant can divide their time between both institutes. The vacant position will primarily devise algorithms and simulation experiments for concurrent negotiations in face of uncertainty, and will closely collaborate with other project team members for the implementation of experimental tests.
The successful applicant will contribute to the research group's ambition to develop and mature fundamental principles that find applications in practical intelligent and autonomous systems. The position is embedded in a diverse team of motivated junior and senior researchers (including B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD students) with experience and ongoing complementary projects on topics such as multi-agent learning, autonomous representation, negotiation, smart energy systems, and more. Group alumni have moved on to excellent positions in academia and industry, making it a cornerstone in their career path.
We offer a fully funded PhD position for a period of 4 years. The PhD position is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO)
Vidi grant, which is an individual grant for talented, creative researchers to conduct research of their choice. The PhD will be embedded in the graduate school of Utrecht University and will have ample learning opportunities in the form of summer schools, PhD courses, and international competitions. There is a personal budget available for travel to workshops and conferences, and multiple research visits to other universities and companies are anticipated.