Doctoral Researcher in Maritime Situational Awareness (m/f)

Job Description: We are seeking a Researcher to work within the Research Department of the “CoE MARBLE – Centre of Excellence in Maritime Robotics and Technologies for Sustainable Blue Economy” (https://www.marble.eu/). The successful candidate will contribute to the development, integration, testing, and deployment of situational awareness solutions for autonomous maritime robotic systems, with a focus on perception, sensor integration, data fusion, and field validation. The ideal candidate will have experience working with robotic systems and sensor data in real-world environments and be capable of contributing to both research and technology development. The candidate will be expected to publish research results in high-quality journals, present their work at international conferences, and contribute to proposal preparation, dissemination, and other research-related activities. Strong communication, collaboration, and teamwork skills are essential. The position involves close collaboration with project partners, participation in field trials, and the development of innovative solutions for maritime robotics applications. About the Position: Maritime situational awareness is a key enabling capability for autonomous maritime systems operating in complex and dynamic environments. Modern situational awareness solutions combine data from heterogeneous sensors, robotic platforms, and external information sources to support perception, monitoring, decision-making, and mission execution in marine and coastal domains. The goal of this research position is to contribute to the development of advanced situational awareness systems for real-world maritime applications. Depending on the candidate’s interests and background, the research may include topics such as: - Multi-sensor perception and data fusion for maritime environments - Detection, tracking, and classification of vessels, objects, and activities at sea - Integration of optical, acoustic, radar, AIS, and environmental sensing data - Development of machine learning and AI methods for maritime monitoring and anomaly detection - Collaborative situational awareness across heterogeneous robotic platforms (UAVs, USVs, and AUVs) - Environmental monitoring and mapping using autonomous systems - Human-machine interfaces and visualization tools for maritime operations - Validation of situational awareness solutions through field experiments and pilot deployments The work will combine theoretical research with practical implementation and experimental validation in collaboration with MARBLE researchers and international partners. Key responsibilities: - Conduct research activities related to maritime situational awareness under the supervision of senior researchers - Develop, integrate, and validate perception, sensor fusion, and situational awareness algorithms for autonomous maritime systems - Contribute to software development, experiments, field trials and data analysis - Publish scientific results in international journals and conferences - Collaborate with project partners and participate in meetings, workshops, and dissemination activities - Fulfilling study obligations according to the regulations of enrolled doctoral programme Workplace: CoE MARBLE – Centre of Excellence in Maritime Robotics and Technologies for Sustainable Blue Economy, Froudeova 13, 10020 Zagreb.

Job Requirements: - MSc degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Mechatronics, Applied Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence, or a related discipline - Excellent academic record - Strong analytical and problem-solving skills - Programming experience in Python and/or C++ - Experience with robotics software development and/or sensor data processing - Very good written and spoken English skills - Ability to work independently and as part of an interdisciplinary research team Experience in one or more of the following areas is considered an advantage: - Robotics and autonomous systems - Situational awareness, perception, or environmental understanding - Multi-sensor data fusion - Sensor integration (cameras, LiDAR, radar, sonar, acoustic sensors, GNSS/INS) - Computer vision and image processing - AI and machine learning for perception and decision support - Object detection, classification, tracking, and localization - Marine robotics or maritime technologies - ROS/ROS2 and robotic software frameworks - Underwater sensing and perception technologies - Scientific writing and publication in peer-reviewed venues