Fully Funded* PhD position in Space Robotics

Application Deadline: 24 March 2025

*Notes on Funding

This position will fully cover UK/Home fees. Overseas students that wish to apply, need to be able to finance the balance of the tuition fees. The position will offer a stipend at UKRI rate (currently at £19,237 per year).

About the Project

Robots have been used in space for planetary exploration, satellite docking, and on-board the ISS. In the near future, robots will be used in space for more complicated activities, in line with the developments of new space economy and exploration. Some of the future space activities include:

  • Autonomous spacecraft rendezvous and proximity operations
  • Autonomous navigation on planetary environments
  • Robotic construction of lunar outposts
  • Autonomous capturing of targets in orbit (space debris, satellite docking)
  • Assembly of large structures in-orbit
  • Robotics for In-Situ Resource Utilization
  • Robot-astronaut interaction and support on space stations

These new space applications come with specific challenges: examples include robotic perception and navigation (how can a robot understand and its surroundings and move to a target?), manipulation (how can a robot capture and handle a target object?), autonomy (how can the robot take intelligent decisions away from human supervision?), hardware development (what specialised mechanical/electrical parts need to be designed for future space robots?), and simulation capabilities (how can the robot, environment and operations be accurately and efficiently simulated?).

The PhD positions aim to produce high-quality research and develop the robotic capabilities that address one or more of these challenges for the future activities mentioned above. The lists are not exhaustive, and additional PhD projects on space robotics can also be discussed.

Supervision and Hosting Department

You will be supervised by Dr Nikos Mavrakis, Assistant Professor at Department of Computer Science and Durham Space Research Centre (SPARC). His research includes robotic manipulation and grasping for space robotics, perception for satellites and planetary rovers, and spacecraft autonomy. He has extensive experience in space robotics for active debris removal through EPSRC funded projects, and as part of the NASA/ESA Mars Sample Return Mission at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. More info can be found here.

You will be hosted at the Department of Computer Science at Durham University, and be part of VIViD (Vision, Imaging, and Visualisation in Durham) research group. The Department hosts well-equipped labs with on-site capabilities comprising vehicle-mounted sensors (LiDAR, radar, camera, GPS/IMU), drone operations, on/off-road robotics, high-precision geo-localisation, BCI/EEG bio-signal data collection, robotic arm manipulation, X-ray security imaging, virtual reality and on-demand wide-area surveillance video feeds.

In addition, Durham University hosts the UK regional supercomputer, Bede (128 NVIDIA V100 GPUs) which complements our departmental NVIDIA CUDA Compute Cluster (80+ GPUs up to NVIDIA A100) to cater for the increasing GPU compute demands of modern AI-driven research projects.

The Department itself is based in the newly built Mathematical and Computer Sciences building - a £42 million, 9,160m2 state of the art teaching, learning and research facility, located on the University’s Upper Mountjoy Campus co-located with the Department of Mathematics. All PhD students are allocated desk and/or lab space to support their research work and PhD student research projects are additionally supported by an annual equipment/travel allowance spanning the duration of the PhD study period. The Department is also part of the newly established Durham Space Research Centre (SPARC), a £5 million hub of excellence for interdisciplinary space research, training and industrial engagement supported by Durham’s Strategic Research Fund (SRF). SPARC addresses space-related challenges in technology development, governance, policy, law, and science, for a responsible and sustainable use of space.

Entry Requirements

  • First class honours (or high 2.1 at undergraduate or equivalent Masters) degree in a field related to space robotics, such as Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, Computer Science, Aerospace or similar. (internationally: GPA 3.3+ or equivalent).
  • Knowledge of modern programming languages (preferably Python, C++, MATLAB) and robotic simulation (e.g. Gazebo, CoppeliaSim, MuJoCo, Isaac Sim)
  • Strong understanding of computing/engineering applications and a passion on solving problems in space engineering and robotics
  • Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English, under the Durham University English language requirements.
  • Prior research or industrial experience in space technology and/or robotics is beneficial but not required

How to Apply

For more information, eligibility, and the application process please visit https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/computer-science/postgraduate/research/ To have a pre-application discussion, please contact Dr Nikos Mavrakis at nikolaos.mavrakis@durham.ac.uk with an email subject “Fully funded PhD in Space Robotics”. In your email you should include a CV, transcripts of degrees, and a 1-page research proposal (including bibliography) that explains which challenge you wish to address and what topic you wish to apply it on.