QUT Choreographing Human-Robot Collaboration and Communication (PhD scholarship) 2025

This scholarship is supported through the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project, DP250103137 - Moving with Robots. It is led by Professor John McCormick at Swinburne University of Technology in collaboration with researchers from QUT – Professor Jonathan Roberts and Doctor Steph Hutchison and will be situated within the School of Creative Arts at QUT.

Moving with Robots investigates the use of collaborative robots by people in arts, social and health settings with the potential to improve their economic situation and quality of life through increasing safe and cost-effective options for engagement, care and support. However, one of the barriers to adoption is how to achieve safe and trusted contact support for robots who are physically interacting with people in collaborative and assistive roles. Through choreographed interactions with movement experts, this project expects to generate machine learning strategies to understand how people and robots can reliably and fluently move together. Expected outcomes of this project include innovative methods for robot learning to improve shared movement quality.

The PhD candidate will research movement and choreographic structures applied to human-robot interaction, with a focus on the qualities of the movement and interactions, collaborative navigation of shared space, aligning human robot body movement and shared weight and touch in collaborative movement. The candidate will work closely with the CIs, post doc and PhD (machine learning) candidate, to develop choreographic structures used to generate movement and interaction capabilities that will define human-robot relationships.  The candidate will examine the choreographic development process and performance outcomes of the project and assist development of a methodological framework for capturing, assessing and reporting the process and evaluating new knowledge and innovations.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirments
• Interview Process
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineJune 30, 2025
• Value$33,637 per annum
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorQueensland University of Technology
• City to studyQueensland
• School to studyQueensland University of Technology
• Course to studyCreative Art
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

• You'll receive a stipend of $33,637 per annum for a maximum duration of 3 years while undertaking a QUT PhD. This is the full-time, tax-exempt rate which will index annually.
• You will receive a tuition fee offset/sponsorship, covering the cost of your tuition fees for the first 4 full-time equivalent years of your doctoral studies.
• As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the field.

Requirements

• You need to meet the entry requirements for QUT's Doctor of Philosophy, including any English language requirements.
• Enrol as a full time, internal student (unless approval for part-time and/or external study is obtained).
• Have a background in one or more of the following areas:
  • Dance
  • Choreographic Practice
  • Improvisation
  • Performance and Technology
  • Motion Capture
  • Movement Analysis Systems

Interview Dates and Process

• Academic performance

Application Deadline

How To Apply

Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to QUT's Doctor of Philosophy

• The first step is to email Dr Steph Hutchison detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV.
• If supported to apply, you will then submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) following the advice at How to apply for a research degree.
• In your EOI, nominate Dr Steph Hutchison as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship website into question 2 of the Financial details section.