1. The ideal candidate has a master degree in Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence. Experience that relates to neurosymbolic AI, or its ingredients is a plus. Familiarity with logic and probability as well.
2. Candidates must have excellent programming skills, be proficient in oral and written English, possess excellent communication skills, multi-tasking skills, and be team-oriented, proactive and result driven. The PhD students will work on research projects that involve frequent interactions with both internal and external researchers.
3. The positions can start immediately, and positions will be filled as soon as suitable candidates are found. Interested PhD candidates should send their CV, their transcripts, contact information of 2 or 3 referees, and a motivation letter using the KU Leuven system. The motivation letter should clearly outline the interests in neurosymbolic AI and its applications, as well as possible past experience in AI and possibly neurosymbolic AI.
The group of Luc De Raedt and Giuseppe Marra has openings at the PhD-level in neurosymbolic AI and its Applications in the context of various projects. This group is developing foundations and applications of neurosymbolic AI by combining probability, logic and neural networks with the goal of supporting both data and knowledge, learning and reasoning. Neurosymbolic AI is one the next frontiers in AI, it is an innovation trigger according to Gartner, and it is enjoying a lot of attention these days.
We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate who can bridge cutting-edge neurosymbolic AI research with impactful real‑world applications —someone who deeply understands theoretical advances, actively follows our group’s work, and brings creativity and practical skills to identify, design, and implement compelling showcase use cases.
The Declarative Languages and Artificial Intelligence (DTAI) Section of the Department of Computer Science of the KU Leuven is a leading research group for artificial intelligence, machine learning and data science. It is internationally renowned for its pioneering work on the integration of learning and reasoning, in domains such as statistical relational and neurosymbolic AI, probabilistic, logical and relational learning and their applications. In addition to fundamental research, the DTAI group applies the developed techniques to concrete cases situated in data science, sensors, sports analytics, combinatorial optimisation, robotics, natural language processing, smart electronics, computer vision, etc. For these applications, DTAI often cooperates with other groups and companies from strategically chosen research areas.
4. A full time PhD scholarship of 1 year, extendible until max. 4 years.
5. A stimulating environment at Europe's most innovative university, in a well-equipped, experienced and internationally oriented research unit.
6. The research will be based at the Department of Computer Science at the Arenberg Campus in Heverlee (close to the center of Leuven).