Research scholarships

Increases in urbanisation, homelessness and natural disasters demand vast construction efforts, yet current construction methods are expensive, lengthy, dangerous and wasteful. One solution to all of these problems is to automate construction using groups of autonomous robots.

While CRC is still in its infancy, the main impediment to widespread application is not necessarily technology – it is the lack of suitable control algorithms, underpinned by insufficient knowledge of how local interactions map to emergent outcomes at the group-level.

About the scholarship

The work in Principal Supervisor Reid’s lab aims to fill this knowledge gap by studying construction teamwork in one of nature’s greatest builders – weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina). This data will be fed directly into the PhD candidate’s project.

Ongoing outcomes of this work include:

• a greater understanding of a range of complex systems in nature and engineering
• the first generation of bio-inspired robots that use teamwork to adaptively build complex structures without the need for oversight or pre-planning. These properties are especially useful in environments that are unknown, unpredictable or dangerous – such as in deep sea or planetary exploration, or in search-and-rescue operations in disaster zones – where the agents are forced to work without a pre-defined blueprint.

The PhD candidate will leverage the significant resources obtained by the supervisory team (MQRIS (Small) 2025 and industry partner matching funds totalling $180K) for the purchase of at least 20 advanced swarm robots. These robots have been custom-designed for advanced capabilities relevant to this proposal, and will form one of the most advanced suites of robotic technology for the testing of CRC principles.

The project aims are to:

1. design algorithms for decentralised control of swarm robot builders, using bio-inspiration from weaver ant behaviour
2. test algorithm design and performance in swarm robotics simulation
3. implement and finesse algorithm performance in state-of-the-art advanced robot swarm.

Availability

This scholarship is available to eligible candidates to undertake a direct entry three-year PhD program.

We are looking for a candidate who:

• holds a (research) master degree or honours degree with distinction in a relevant field, such as swarm robotics, at the time of application
• has demonstrated experience programming robots using ROS, or equivalent skill level
• is curiosity driven and passionate about fundamental research in the context of swarm robotics or collective behaviour, and strongly motivated to obtain a PhD degree
• is proficient in the English language
• is a team player, willing to work with a diverse group of researchers and technicians, and can also work independently.

Ideal candidates will also have some of the following:

• previous experience in swarm robotics, either in simulation or physical platforms
• strong coding and software skills
• strong quantitative and statistical skills (preferably in R)
• strong communication skills and a motivation to disseminate results to both scientific peers and a broad audience.

Components

The scholarship comprises:

• a tuition fee offset
• a living allowance stipend.

The value of the stipend scholarship is $38,500 per annum (full time, indexed) for three years.