Chalmers is seeking up to two PhD students who want to explore the interface between formal verification and automated planning. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to safer, more intelligent systems through a combination of theoretical work and practical implementation.
Position description
Reactive synthesis refers to the automatic generation of programs from high-level behavioral specifications. This approach plays an increasingly important role in areas such as reinforcement learning, robotics, and the development of reactive software systems. It enables the creation of robust, reliable programs by specifying what a system should do, while automatically deriving how it should do it — with high assurance.
Our project aims to integrate Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) and the Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL) to build a more expressive and efficient framework for reactive synthesis. This allows us to describe dynamic behaviors in complex environments over time.
You will work with formal tools such as:
- Planning domains and temporal logic — to describe the required behavior of programs at a high level.
- Automata theory — to manipulate logical formulas and domain representations.
- Two-player games — to reason about strategies and synthesized programs.
The work involves theoretical research, algorithm design, and the development of software tools that demonstrate the applicability of the new methods.
You will be part of the Computing Science Division, which focuses on the development of secure, trustworthy software and systems.
The appointed candidates will also join a vibrant community of over 140 PhD students at CSE. Your main supervisor will be Prof. Nir Piterman, with support from a co-supervisor and an examiner.
