Tenure Track Assistant Professors within the areas of Medical Robotics and Robot Control

SDU Robotics invites applications for one or more tenure track assistant professor positions in medical robotics and robot control. The positions are for an initial 4-year period, with guaranteed assessment for a permanent position as associate professor during the final year of employment. The positions will be vacant as soon as possible and the starting date will be agreed with the successful candidates. The workplace is at SDU's main campus in Odense, Denmark, and the work is expected to be primarily onsite.

What we offer

• An exciting opportunity to work at the cutting edge of robotics for real-world applications.
• A collaborative and supportive work environment that encourages innovation and creativity.
• Opportunities for professional growth and leadership.
• Access to state-of-the-art technology and resources.

Job description

We are currently extending our team working on medical robotics and robot control with two candidates. The candidates will participate in activities of the SDU Robotics, including current and future research projects and teaching/supervision (including examination duties). The main duties and responsibilities include, for example to:

• Collaborate with our experts and colleagues from SDU Robotics.
• Be deeply involved in our regular coordination and joint evolvement of research and project activities. 
• Raise funding and manage research projects. 
• Design and conduct lab experiments. 
• Participate in the practicalities of actual industrial applications. 
• Organize, plan and conduct excellent teaching for undergraduate and graduate courses. 
• Independently supervise project courses and BSc and MSc thesis projects and co-supervise PhD thesis. 
• Have high self-motivation to learn. 

The selected candidates will be enrolled in the Lecturer Training Programme at SDU to strengthen the candidate’s educational and pedagogical skills.

Profile and requirements
The positions require scientific qualifications at PhD level in robotics or related fields.

Furthermore, the ideal candidates are expected to:

• Have excellent knowledge of English (written and spoken).
• Be able to work well and communicate expert knowledge in an interdisciplinary team.
• Have the ability of working independently.
• Have a strong sense of responsibility.
• Conduct independent research. 

Position 1 profile: Tenure Track assistant professor within Medical Robotics

The candidates must hold a relevant PhD (or hold a PhD within robotics) and are expected to have most of the following qualifications: 

• Research demonstrated by publications in relevant scientific journals and conferences.
• Experience in acquiring and coordinating publicly and/or privately funded projects.
• Strong track record of directly engaging with industrial partners in application-oriented projects and/or a relevant international network for research and collaboration activities.
• Experience with teaching and independently supervising project courses, and BSc and MSc thesis projects.

Preferably, the candidates have experience with: 

• Medical robotics
• Computer vision
• Experimental design and data analysis
• Robotic ultrasound collection

Position 2 profile: Tenure Track assistant professor within Robot Control

The candidate must contribute to the development of methods for designing safe and reliable control systems for primarily industrial robots, by combining data-driven and model-based methods. It is expected that the candidate will participate in the transfer of the developed technology to our industrial collaborators. Collaboration with academic and industrial partners is pivotal to the work at SDU Robotics; hence, the candidate must contribute to forming collaborative projects and execute these in collaboration with other colleagues. 

Preferably, the candidates have experience with: 

• Robot control
• Safety-critical systems
• Machine learning and reinforcement learning
• Industrial robotics
• Advanced robotic applications such as dexterous manipulation

In addition, experience with teaching and independently supervising project courses and BSc and MSc thesis projects will be highly valued. 

Important information for both positions
In the motivation letter, the candidates are requested to state which of the two positions is preferred.

In the assessment of candidates, consideration will be given to: 

• Research demonstrated by publications in relevant scientific journals and conferences
• Experience in interdisciplinary research collaboration
• Teaching experience
• A relevant international network for research and collaboration activities, research experience abroad
• Experience in attracting funding for research projects, and demonstrated experience in research leadership

Research environment
SDU Robotics is involved in a variety of national and European projects and features a strong network of academic and industrial partners. We are a team of currently appr. 60 researchers and engineers specialized in research and development of robot solutions and advanced robot systems within the medical, welfare and industrial domain. 

SDU Robotics is part of the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute, University of Southern Denmark (SDU), and located at the main Campus in Odense, at the core of the Odense Robotics Cluster involving more than 120 startups and established companies in robotics. 

The aim of the group is to solve challenging research problems derived from real-life challenges by implementing novel robot solutions. We participate in implementing the achieved results in real solutions with end users as Novo Nordisk, national hospitals and Universal Robots. 

We value teamwork, professional diligence, enthusiasm for robotics and the drive to adopt new skills and extended responsibilities. We offer an open, international team with flexible work organization and support of individual development.

We look forward to receiving your application and to supporting your academic growth as a researcher in SDU Robotics. 

Further information 
Further information about this position is available via email from

• Position 1 within Medical Robotics: Professor Thiusius R. Savarimuthu: contact information
• Position 2 within Robot Control: Professor Christoffer Sloth: contact information

Please visit us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sdu-robotics. 

If you experience technical problems, please contact our support.

Further information for international applicants about entering and working in Denmark. You may also visit WorkinDenmark for additional information.

Further information about The Faculty of Engineering.

Application procedure

Applicants are advised to read the SDU information on how to apply.

The application deadline is February 25, 2026, at 11:59 PM/23:59 (CET/CEST) 

Assessment of the candidates is based on the application material, and an application must include: 

• A motivation letter that clearly explains the applicant's interest, qualifications, and motivation for the position (max. 2 pages) - remember to state which of the two positions is preferred.
• Detailed Curriculum Vitae, including personal contact information. 
• Master’s and PhD degree certificates or equivalent (copy of original/official English translation). 
• Complete list of publications. 
• Publications most relevant to the position. 
• Summary and documentation of experience in teaching.  You may attach as a Teaching Portfolio. 
• A research statement. 
• References (names, emails and phone) and/or reference letters may be included.
• A statement/documentation of other qualifications relevant to the position may also be included. 

SUBMISSION GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded under ‘Cover letter’ (max. 5 MB), Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded under ‘Resume’ (max 5 MB). All other documents shall be uploaded under ‘Miscellaneous documents’ (max 10 files of max 50 MB per file). 

All documents must be in English and PDF format. CPR number (civil registration no.) must be crossed out. All PDF-files must be unlocked and allow binding and may not be password protected. 

The University of Southern Denmark wishes our staff to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position. 

SDU conducts research in critical technologies, which, due to the risk of unwanted knowledge transfer, are subject to a number of security measures. Therefore, based on information from open sources, background checks may be conducted on candidates for the position.

Tenure Track at the Faculty of Engineering, SDU

With the tenure track programme at the Faculty of Engineering, SDU, we offer an attractive career opportunity for promising scholars. The tenure track is aimed at the most talented scholars who have established a high level in their current research and other professional work, and those who possess exceptional potential to achieve the highest international level within their research area.

You enter the 4-year programme at assistant professor level and if successful you are promoted to associate professor by the end of the programme, provided an expert assessment committee confirms that you have acquired the international level of scholarly excellence characteristic of associate professors. Indicators of relevant scholarly merits include documented independent scholarly output, ground-breaking publications, achievement of excellence grants, and international research network.

The tenure track at the Faculty of Engineering, SDU, is a 4-year programme which includes annual performance and development reviews and a midterm evaluation with a written review by an expert panel to ensure the assistant professor’s track to tenured associate professorship. Finally, a formal academic assessment for permanent associate professorship is conducted by an internationally recognized expert assessment committee. If the final assessment is positive, the candidate will be offered a permanent position as associate professor. If the assessment is negative, the assistant professor can recommend a second assessment within the last six months of employment. Thus, a maximum of two academic assessments can take place.    

When part of the tenure track programme, the 4-year period as assistant professor may be extended by maternity leave, paternity leave and/or adoption leave.   

Assessment and selection process

Read about the Assessment and selection process. Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee. Shortlisting may be applied, and only shortlisted candidates will receive a written assessment. Read about shortlisting at SDU.  Interviews and tests may be part of the overall evaluation. 

Conditions of employment

Appointment as a tenure track assistant professor is temporary and for an initial 4-year period, with guaranteed assessment for a permanent position as associate professor during the final year of employment. 

The positions will be vacant as soon as possible within 2026 and the starting date will be agreed with the successful candidates. The workplace is at SDU's main campus in Odense, Denmark, and the work is expected to be primarily onsite.

During employment, the tenure track assistant professor will complete the Lecturer Training Programme. 

Employment as an assistant professor requires scientific qualifications at minimum PhD level at the time of employment. Employment will be in accordance with the collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations for academics in the state with the associated circular on the protocol for the job structure for academic staff at Danish universities and the provisions for tenure track assistant professor as described herein. Further information on salary and taxation. 

Persons employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial evaluation, be exempted from time registration, also known as a “self-organizer”.