PhD position in Multi-agent swarm control under adversarial conditions (1.0 FTE)

Project information
This PhD position is part of the NWO funded project ‘STEADFAST – Swarm Technology Enabling Advanced Drone-Facilitated Active Support Tactics for Military and First Responder Operations‘. This project aims to develop a defensive semi-autonomous Human Swarm Teaming system with flexible and adaptive autonomy, to support situational awareness (SA) in scenarios with a large number of civilian or military casualties, such as natural disaster, industrial accidents or terrorist attacks. Within this larger project, this work package 3b focuses on the coordination and optimization of drone swarm behavior to enhance SA in missions involvoling military operators.

In such complex environments, coordinated droneswarm behavior is essential. The focus of this PhD is on the development and evaluation of game-theoretic algorithms for multi-agent control under adversarial conditions, such as spoofing or other counter-drone attacks. A key challenge is how to assign tasks dynamically to drones or subgroups in environments characterized by uncertainty. The project also aims to compare these solutions with deep learning-based swarm control architectures.

You will investigate game theoretic approaches for drone swarm coordination and contribute to experiments with real-time information integration via AI-based information methods (developed in WP3a) into effective command and control interfaces. These interfaces will support end-users such as special forces personnel or military aviators using systems like integrated visual augmentation systems.

You will work closely with your supervisors as well as with another PhD who will focus on resilient data agglomeration of the sensed data. The project is situated within a larger consortium, which you will also be expected to contribute to. 

Profile
The research will be conducted under supervision of prof. dr. ir. Roy Lindelauf and co-promotors prof. dr. Marie Postma.

The successful candidate is expected to:

• Perform scientific research in the domain described;
• Develop innovative methods;
• Present results at (international) conferences;
• Publish results in scientific journals;
• Participate in activities of the project group and consortium, mainly in Tilburg but sometimes on site with project partners at various locations within the country
• 0.1 FTE will be dedicated toward educational tasks such as teaching and supervision

Candidates should:

• Have a (research) MSc. in a relevant area such as Computer Science, AI, Data Science, Game Theory, Robotics, Operations Research, Applied Mathematics or a related discipline;
• Strong programming skills in R and/or Python. Any other programming languages are a pro;
• Interest (and ideally, research and coding experience) in autonomous systems, multi-agent systems, game theory, or reinforcement learning;
• Have excellent analytical skills and be highly motivated and rigorous;
• Have good technical understanding (or ability to learn) research design and methodologies and advanced statistics;
• Be a fast learner, autonomous and creative, show dedication and be hard working;
• Possess good communication skills and be an efficient ¬¬(team) worker in an interdisciplinary team;
• Ability and willingness to collaborate in a multidisciplinary research team and with organizational partners;
• Be fluent in English, both spoken and written.

Appointment and salary

This PhD position will be employed at Tilburg University. We offer:

• A full-time position.
• The selected candidate will start with a contract for one year. Upon a positive outcome of the first-year evaluation, the candidate will be offered an employment contract for the remaining three years.
• A minimum gross salary of  € 2,901 per month up to a maximum of € 3,707 in the fourth year;
• A holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% (annually);
• Candidates from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance. Note that changes in the expat ruling have been announced. During 2025 and 2026, a maximum of 30% of the salary remains untaxed. As per 1 January 2027, this percentage decreases to 27%.
• Assistance in finding accommodation (for foreign employees);
• The opportunity to perform cutting edge research in a large-scale science project involving TiU, TU/e, TU Delft,  and several commercial partners bringing together expertise of several senior researchers;
• Support for your personal development and career planning including participation in courses, summer schools, conference visits, research visits to other institutes (both academic and industrial), etc.;
• A broad package of fringe benefits (including excellent technical infrastructure, savings schemes and excellent sport facilities).
• The collective labor agreement of the Dutch Universities applies

The Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence department at Tilburg University is part of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences. The department emphasizes innovative cutting-edge research in those areas of cognitive science that bring together psychological and computational theories and methodologies. The group is responsible for the Bachelor and the Master program Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence, is co-responsible for the university-wide data science Master program Data Science & Society, and is affiliated with the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (http://www.jads.nl). Researchers in the Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence track have access to computer clusters, experimental lab facilities, and the virtual and mixed reality DAF Technology Lab and its sensing technologies (https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/campus/experiencing-virtual-reality/). Moreover, researchers play an important role in Mind Labs (http://www.mind-labs.eu), an initiative that fosters collaborations between knowledge institutions and corporations in the field of interactive technologies and behavior.

Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences

More detailed project information can be provided on request. Please contact prof.dr.ir. Roy Lindelauf (r.h.a.lindelauf@tilburguniversity.edu) or prof dr. Marie Postma (Marie.Postma@tilburguniversity.edu).