Call For Expression Of Interest For Msca Postdoctoral Fellowships At Unige – N. 17 Artificial I[] GENOVA

Call For Expression Of Interest For Msca Postdoctoral Fellowships At Unige – N. 17 Artificial I[]
Genova
Liguria, GENOVA

Department of Electrical, Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering and Naval Architecture (DITEN) Organisation / Company: University of Genoa Laboratory: Connected Objects, Smart Materials, Integrated Circuits (COSMIC) Lab Description: Call for Expression of Interest for a joint application under the upcoming Call for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025 The University of Genoa (UNIGE), located in Genoa, ITALY, welcomes postdoctoral researchers of any nationality with an excellent track record to apply to the European Commission Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships 2025. Our University has been a beneficiary of several MSCA-PF in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. The Marie Sklodowska Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship is a funding scheme of the European Commission's Horizon Europe Research & Innovation programme, dedicated to excellent research promoting international mobility, as well as interdisciplinary and intersectoral exchanges. MSCA fellowship grants provide a competitive salary plus mobility and family allowances if applicable, as well as a contribution to cover research, training, and networking costs. The research projects will have a duration of 2 or 3 years. Selected candidates will receive special support for proposal writing and development. The University of Genoa will organize in May the fifth edition of the Masterclass MSCAUniGe. Selected candidate researchers will have the opportunity to attend a 2-day online intensive training and coaching course on how to write a successful proposal. This masterclass is a pathway of support to candidates and their supervisors in preparing project proposals, including prescreening activity of the draft proposals and the organization of dedicated B2B meetings, by the European Research Office of UniGe, National Contact Point, and other experts. The masterclass will take place in May/June 2025. MSCA domain: Information Science and Engineering (ENG) Research Project Description: The project involves developing a bionic upper limb equipped with artificial skin featuring high-density spatial sensors. This solution will be semi-automatically controlled based on tactile information and user intention (via electromyography). These inputs will be processed using AI techniques on embedded systems to generate command signals and enhance the system's functional capabilities. Specifically, the project aims to combine new technology (electronic skin) with AI to develop a bionic limb capable of adapting its grip through low-level automatic control. The electronic skin is a flexible sheet with a dense network of tactile sensors, which will be designed, developed, and integrated into two advanced prosthetic devices: the multifunctional Michelangelo hand (https://www.ottobock.com/en-us/product/8E500) and the Hannes hand (https://rehab. iit. it/en-US/hannes). The tactile data measured by the electronic skin will be processed by embedded AI to study, implement, and evaluate a new approach to prosthesis control. The smart controller will respond to user intentions detected through muscle signals (e. g. , grasping an object) and automatically execute the commanded action by relying on tactile signals from the skin (e. g. , controlling individual fingers until stable contacts are established), thus reducing the user's cognitive control load. Finally, an electrotactile feedback system will be developed to provide tactile information back to the user, creating a bidirectional interface to improve human-machine interaction. Research Group: The DITEN research laboratory involved in the project is the Connected Objects, Smart Materials, Integrated Circuits (COSMIC) Lab, led by Prof. Maurizio Valle. This unit has: COSMIC research laboratory of about 130 m² 2 DITEN laboratories equipped for design, measurement, and testing. Staff: The project will utilize research personnel from DITEN. Specifically, it will involve 1 full professor, 2 type A researchers, 3 PhD students, and 2 administrative technicians. The monthly commitment of the staff covers the project requirements while being compatible with their other duties. Project-relevant skills: In recent years, the COSMIC Lab has collaborated with Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation and Aalborg University on developing a control loop in prosthetics, using artificial skin to extract interaction information and provide feedback to a human subject. Additionally, COSMIC is collaborating with the University of Bologna and INAIL to integrate artificial skin into robotic hands to improve the control loop by acquiring and processing tactile sensor data. The COSMIC Lab's relevant research skills include: Characterization of piezoelectric polymer materials for tactile sensors Modeling and design of systems based on electronic skin Processing tactile data and decoding information using signal processing and machine learning techniques Implementing algorithms in embedded electronic systems Microelectronic design for developing optimized electronic boards The proposed project brings together institutions with complementary expertise, creating conditions for unique integration and further development of methods and technologies. The University of Novi Sad (Serbia) - Faculty of Technical Science (FTS) focuses on developing electronics for electrical stimulation and recording electrophysiological signals, with ongoing research in prosthesis control and artificial sensory feedback, including clinical and home evaluations on amputees. FTS uses the Michelangelo prosthesis, and this project will provide them access to unique technology (electronic skin) that can significantly improve both control and feedback in prosthetics. The Intelligence Research and Development of Serbia (IAI), with extensive expertise in developing and implementing AI algorithms, will provide its expertise to FTS and UNIGE, integrating these techniques into their systems for efficient and effective processing of tactile and electrophysiological data. UNIGE has extensive experience in developing artificial skin and preliminary work on translating this technology into a prosthesis (so far, only using passive prototypes). The research activities will enable the UNIGE team to integrate electronic skin and machine learning and signal processing methods into a fully functional prosthesis. The COSMIC Lab has collaborated on several research and development activities relevant to this project: HORIZON. 2. 4 - Digital, Industry and Space, AI-Powered Manipulation System for Advanced Robotic Service, Manufacturing and Prosthetics, Topic: HORIZON-CL4-2021-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01-11, Call: HORIZON-CL4-2021-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01, Proposal number: 101070136, Proposal acronym: IntelliMan. 1/09/2022 – 28/02/2026 H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks, Topic: MSCA-ITN-2018, Type of action: MSCA-ITN-ETN (European Training Networks), Proposal number: 813713, Proposal acronym: NeuTouch. 01/03/2019 – 01/03/2023 H2020 RIA, Tactility (TACTIle feedback enriched virtual interaction through virtual realITY and beyond), Call. H2020-ICT-2018-3, proposal 856718, 2019, 2019 - 2022 For the MSCA-PF 25 call (opening foreseen on 9th April 2025), at the deadline for the submission of proposals (10th September 2025), postdoctoral candidates shall have a maximum of 8 years of postdoctoral research experience and must not have resided or carried out their main activities in Italy (for European Fellowship) or in the Third Country of the outgoing phase (for Global Fellowship) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the abovementioned deadline. More info on MSCA PF at the following link: J-18808-Ljbffr