PhD Position LLMs in Action Designing Social Robots for Supporting Creative Group Collaboration

Engineer a social robot that leverages its own knowledge to creatively collaborate with humans, uncover their perspectives, and strengthen group decision-making.

Job description

Complex group discussions—whether among legal mediators, surgeons, or students—often face hidden challenges. Participants bring diverse knowledge and perspectives, but these are rarely fully visible. Misunderstandings and disagreements can easily arise, slowing progress and reducing the quality of decisions.

This project tackles that challenge.

We aim to develop a social robot that acts as an active collaborator in group discussions. Using Hybrid Intelligence—the combination of human strengths and AI capabilities—the robot will:

• Offer missing information,
• Highlight key points and disagreements,
• Reflect participants’ perspectives back to the group.

Rather than embedding broad values into the system, this project focuses on uncovering individual, context-specific values dynamically through conversation. The robot engages directly with users to surface deeper motivations, supporting both decision-making and collaboration.

This work is relevant across many fields, from legal settlements to surgical planning and educational teamwork. In each case, uncovering hidden perspectives early can lead to better outcomes, higher trust, and more effective collaboration.

Technologically, this project is ambitious.

You will integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) into a social robot to enable real-time, sensitive interventions in conversations. This demands not just technical skill, but an understanding of human interaction and ethical AI. You will also use reinforcement learning for tailoring the interactive strategies that can balance the individual preference and the group interest.

Your profile:

We seek a candidate passionate about AI, social robotics, and human-centered design.You should have technical expertise (e.g., NLP, machine learning, or robotics) and a strong interest in communication and collaboration dynamics.

Why join us?

This is your opportunity to advance the field of Hybrid Intelligence, building AI systems that truly work alongside people to solve complex problems. If you’re excited about making a real-world impact through innovative research, we encourage you to apply.

Job requirements

We are looking for a PhD candidate who is interested in gathering experience in dialogue modelling and knowledge graphs. It is a plus but not a necessity if the candidate has experience with developing interactive systems and reinforcement learning algorithms.

The ideal candidate would have a computer science, AI or computational linguistics background

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.

Conditions of employment 
Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met. 

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2901 per month in the first year to € 3707 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills. 

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.  

Will you need to relocate to the Netherlands for this job? TU Delft is committed to make your move as smooth as possible! The HR unit, Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.  

Additional information
If you would like more information about this vacancy or the selection procedure, please contact Dr. Catharine Oertel, via c.r.m.m.oertel@tudelft.nl.

Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than June 15, 2025 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• CV
• Motivational letter

You can address your application to Dr. Catharine Oertel.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements. 

Please note:

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post. 
• A pre-employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• For the final candidates, a knowledge security check will be part of the application procedure. For more information on this check, please consult Chapter 8 of the National Knowledge Security Guidelines. We carry out this check on the basis of legitimate interest.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.