Postdoctoral Fellow - Robotics Institute

About the Role

Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute is seeking a creative and energetic Postdoctoral Research Associate to carry out advanced independent and/or directed research. This role requires in-depth knowledge of a specialized field, process, or discipline and involves organizing and implementing complex research plans, developing research methods, testing, data collection, analysis, evaluation, and report writing. The purpose of this position is to acquire professional skills needed to pursue a career path of your choosing.

AirLab conducts frequent field experiments and works closely with corporate and government sponsors. Projects involve rapid research-to-deployment cycles, requiring both scientific rigor and strong engineering execution.

Responsibilities

• Aerial Robot Autonomy:
  • Single- and multi-robot decision-making and planning, including low-altitude flight using monocular vision.
  • Perception-aware navigation in GPS-denied environments.
  • Coordinating heterogeneous teams of aerial and ground robots.
  • Perception-based multi-robot coordination and task allocation.
  • Long-horizon and safety-aware planning under uncertainty.
• Learning-Based Perception and Control:
  • Multi-modal and foundation-model-based approaches for robotics, including multi-modal mapping and semantic perception.
  • Action policy learning and embodied intelligence.
  • Learning foundation models for semantic, depth, and state estimation (e.g., similar in spirit to MapAnything).
  • Latent-space representations for decision-making and control of aerial robots, ground vehicles, quadrupeds, and humanoids.
• Lead research projects within one of the focus areas above.
• Publish in leading robotics, computer vision, and machine learning venues.
• Contribute to proposal development and sponsor reporting.
• Co-supervise graduate and undergraduate students.
• Present research results to academic, industrial, and government stakeholders.
• Participate in system integration and real-world field evaluations.
• Collect and analyze data, including literature searches and utilizing specialized skills to analyze collected data.
• Conduct research experiments within the predetermined research scope and methodology of the department and university.
• Lab maintenance, including equipment maintenance and ordering supplies, as required.
• Participate in or assist with manuscript writing for publication in scientific journals and presentations, and assist in grant writing.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Doctorate Degree.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational and planning skills.
• Strong problem-solving and reasoning skills.
• A combination of education and relevant experience from which comparable knowledge is demonstrated may be considered.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can bridge algorithmic innovation with real-system deployment and demonstrate leadership skills.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous retirement savings program with employer contributions.
• Tuition benefits.
• Ample paid time off and observed holidays.
• Life and accidental death and disability insurance.
• Free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass.
• Access to Family Concierge Team to help navigate childcare needs.
• Fitness center access.

For a comprehensive overview of benefits, explore the Benefits page.

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Position Type: Full-time, Postdoctoral Associate / Fellow (Fixed Term)