From Computational Learning and Motor Control Lab

Main: OpenPositions

Currently available positions:

Postdoctoral Positions:

No funding possibilities at this moment. We would, however, consider assisting highly qualified applicants in seeking funding from other agencies. Please, contact Dr. Stefan Schaal for further information.

Research Assistantships (RA):

No openings. Please also read comments below.

We have two openings:

We are seeking a Ph.D. student in machine learning with focus on robot learning. An ideal candidate has interest and background in machine learning for control (reinforcement learning, supervised learning for control), is interested in working with complex robots (e.g., humanoid robots), and is interested in motor control (potentially also biological motor control) and motor learning in general. A strong background and foundation in more mathematical approaches to science as well as excellent computational skills are desirable.

We are seeking a Ph.D. student in neuro-motor control. An ideal candidate has strong interest in computational neuroscience for motor control, computational and robotic approaches to motor control, and behavioral experiments with human subjects in movement recording and fMRI setups. A strong background and foundation in more mathematical approaches to science as well as excellent computational skills are desirable. :)

Suitable candidates should contact Dr. Stefan Schaal for further information. Please only contact us if you match a large fraction of the description above.

Please also read comments below.

Teaching Assistantships (TA):

No openings. Please also read comments below.

Workstudy Positions:

We are currently looking for one or two work studies to help with administrative and technical work in the lab. The work involves the administrative organization of publications, literature search, simple web site management, digital video editing, etc., depending on the qualifications of the applicant. Please, contact Dr. Stefan Schaal for further information.

Some general comments concerning RA/TA-ships:

At USC, RA/TA-ships are only given to graduate students. TA-ships are usually reserved for Ph.D. students only, while both Masters and Ph.D. students are eligible for RA-ships (although preference is given to Ph.D. students due to their long term commitment to research and education at USC). Ph.D. admission in Computer Science is done by having students apply to the department, and then a subset of qualified applicants is chosen by an impartial admissions committee. After the students are accepted and ranked, faculty can contact them about joining their research group. Individual faculty do not decide who is accepted -- only the committee does. Therefore, if you are interested in joining our Ph.D. program and our lab, it is strongly recommended that you apply through the regular channels. Application information is found at http://www.cs.usc.edu. Specify in your application that you are interested is in our lab, in what particular area of our research, and what your relevant background is. If you are accepted, your folder will be sent to us for consideration. Admissions are done once per year -- some exceptions can apply.

It is also possible to join our lab by being a Ph.D. student in another program, e.g., the Neuroscience Program or Biomedical Engineering. The basic application procedure is the same as above, just directed to the appropriate department.

Please, also check our information on how to study Neural Computation at USC.