Pain and Pleasure in the Motivation-Emotion-Cognition Loop: Robots as Tools and Models
Applications are invited from excellent candidates with good first and Masters degrees in computer science, cognitive science, biology, neuroscience, cybernetics, psychology, or other relevant disciplines to work as PhD students with Prof. Lola Cañamero (www.emotion-modeling.info, [email protected]) for a period of three years, as part of her Paris-Seine INEX Chair in Neuroscience and Robotics at the ETIS Lab (UMR8051), CY Cergy Paris University, in the Paris region.
In biological systems, emotions are part of the bio-regulatory mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of the stability of an organism's internal environment (its viability and homeostasis), which is needed to survive in and adapt to changing (external) environments. Emotions interact with motivational and cognitive processes by acting on (modulating) the global 'state' of the organism, including bodily state and cognition-action interactions.
This project will focus on pain and pleasure, the roles they play in the modulation of perception and the construction of embodied representations (of the external environment, of our own "image", of others) and their adaptive value (including dysfunctionalities and maladaptations) in decision making.
This research proposes to investigate similar types of regulatory systems in robots, with the twofold objective of using the robots as models to contribute to the understanding and testing of psychological/neuroscientific theories of pain and pleasure and tools to support therapies of related pathological conditions (e.g., compulsions, addictions, disorders related to body image, chronic pain), as well as to develop more subtle decision-making strategies for autonomous and social robots.
As in the case of the previous research on which this project would build, the model would be based on a “cybernetics” approach aimed at the homeostatic regulation of an internal “physiology” of the robot, and the signals of “pain” and “pleasure” would be implemented in terms of simulated hormones with appropriate properties and dynamics. The research will be carried out in collaboration with scientists from other disciplines (e.g., psychology, neuroscience, ethology), as appropriate.
How to Apply:
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Interested candidates should send the following documents by email to [email protected] :
1) A motivation letter explaining your interest in the topic and why you think you are qualified to carry out this research
2) Academic transcripts for both Undergraduate and Masters degrees, providing details of subjects taken, grades obtained, and ranking if available
3) A CV
4) Two references or the contact details of two referees
Please send your application by October 13th. Shortlisting will take place on October 14th, shortlisted candidates will be offered an interview on October 15.
Position type: PhD studentship
Institution/company: ETIS Laboratory -- CY Cergy Paris Université
Location: France
Application deadline: October 13, 2021
Link for more information: http://www.emotion-modeling.info/