PhD Candidate in Marine Cybernetics on Agentic AI for Smart Testing of Autonomous Maritime Systems

This is NTNU

NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim.

At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

   

Video: https://youtu.be/Xt-yHCN5QS0About the position

Would you like to work at the interface between research and industry to advance the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the maritime domain? We are offering a PhD position in Agentic AI for Smart Testing of Autonomous Maritime Systems at the Department of Marine Technology, as part of the Norwegian Maritime AI Center (MAI) at NTNU.

As a PhD candidate, you will conduct research to develop AI-driven methods for efficient methods for simulation-based testing and continuous assurance (continuously monitoring and testing frequently updated systems) of primarily autonomous navigation systems (ANS) and secondary external situation awareness (ESA). This will contribute to a multidisciplinary research environment with strong industrial collaboration. You will work to achieve your doctorate to gain formal qualifications as researcher in engineering science. This opens up for high-impact career paths in research and higher education, within academia, research institutes, or industry.

The main supervisor will be Professor Dong Trong Nguyen, and the co-supervisor Professor Adil Rasheed. The candidate will also have co-supervision from industry partners, including Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Kongsberg Maritime (KM). Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

Duties of the position

The technical work tasks concern:

• Development of AI-driven methods for smart testing and continuous assurance of autonomous maritime systems, with primary focus on autonomous navigation systems (ANS) and secondary focus on external situation awareness (ESA).
• Design and implementation of an agentic AI-based multi-agent architecture for structured testing and assurance, inspired by the sense-plan-act loop.
• Development of testing agents that support autonomous scenario generation, test execution, behavioral analysis (reasoning), and systematic collection of safety evidence with mechanisms for accumulating knowledge and experience.
• Simulation-based testing frameworks including co-simulation and large-scale virtual testing environments.
• Integration of hybrid world models, combining physics-based models and data-driven methods, to support interpretable and robust testing of autonomous behavior.
• Application of formal methods and reasoning techniques to support safety arguments, requirement traceability, and explainable assurance evidence.
• Demonstration and validation of the developed methods through industrial case studies, including testing of commercial ANS and ESA.

General duties are:

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate, in good collaboration with project partners with experiments conducted at their test facilities.
• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above.
• Immediate focus on academic publications and popular science dissemination.
• Participate in the research group Marine Energy Systems and Autonomics (MESA) at Department of Marine Technology.
• Participate actively in project meetings and workshops, research stays with relevant project partners, as well as in international conferences.
• Teaching duties to be clarified, if relevant.

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• Academically relevant background within marine control/cybernetics, computer science, artificial intelligence, with good skills in mathematics and programming. 
• Master's degree in control engineering, cybernetics, or computer science or equivalent. Your course of study must correspond to a Norwegian five-year master program, where 120 credits have been obtained at master's level. Master's students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position.
• Strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be considered if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• Meet the requirements for admission to the Faculty of Engineering doctoral program: PhD in Engineering.
• Very good English skills, both written and oral.
• This position is restricted by acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. This means that candidates from countries subject to export restrictions or listed in threat assessments from national security authorities will normally not be eligible. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with these criteria will be removed from recruitment to this position. 

 

PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions and Regulations for the degrees philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) and philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) in artistic development work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

• Experience with agent-based AI, particularly for autonomous systems, decision-making, or safety-critical applications.
• Familiarity with formal methods, safety assurance, verification and validation, or requirements-based system design. 
• Familiarity with simulation-based testing, co-simulation frameworks, or digital twins. 
• Strong skills in relevant programming languages, particularly Python, and best practice in data management and use of Github.
• Experience with robotics or maritime autonomous systems, including perception, planning, or navigation.
• Experience and abilities for dissemination of knowledge and skills towards students.
• Familiarity with marine technology

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• Work independently while actively contributing to a positive atmosphere in our research environment.
• Work in a structured way, set goals, and make plans to achieve them.
• Be open, present and discuss your research and innovative ideas with other involved professionals and collaborators.
• Get involved, work hard, and contribute constructively with feedback, also under pressure of time. 
• Show curiosity and a strong motivation for relevant subjects.
• Have a keen interest for good practice in programming, data management, and data analysis. 

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities and motivation for the position.

We offer

• An exciting job with an important mission in society.
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment.
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period.
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues.
• As a public employee, you have favorable benefits as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK). 

As a PhD Candidate at NTNU, you will have access to employee benefits.

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population's collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality. 

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK 550 800,-per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years.

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Engineering within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme through out the period of employment.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to bein conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or English. 

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates and diplomas upon request.

The application must include:

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees
• CV 
• Copy of Master's thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page). If proceeding to interview, a short presentation will be asked for.
• Possibly contributed papers or other relevant research work.
• Possibly certificates.
• Names and contact information of three relevant referees.

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor's and Master's education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well.

Joint work will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions, and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates.

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU's social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Dong Trong Nguyen, email: dong.t.nguyen@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR Advisor Marit Gjersvold, email: marit.gjersvold@ntnu.no.

Application deadline: 03.03.2026

-----------------

For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 
 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.