AIRL has merged into BOLD
The Adaptive and Intelligent Robotics Lab (AIRL) has now merged with other leading AI labs at Oxford, UCL and Imperial to form BOLD, the British Open-ended Learning and Discovery Lab, a national AI research lab. PhD students joining Imperial’s branch of BOLD are recruited through BOLD. Applications for the next cohort will open soon: register your interest here to be notified.
Research focus of Imperial’s branch of BOLD
Foundation models and reinforcement learning have transformed language and vision, but transfer poorly to robots, where data is scarce and onboard compute is limited. We develop learning algorithms that let physical robots learn and adapt under these constraints:
- Open-ended skill discovery: using foundation models and Quality-Diversity algorithms to generate diverse behaviours without human-curated data.
- Resilient adaptation: combining reinforcement learning and world models so that robots adapt within minutes to damage or unforeseen situations.
- Hierarchical skills: composing lightweight, reusable skills instead of training one monolithic model.
- Simulation to the edge: scaling reinforcement learning in simulation and deploying compact policies onboard.
Our main testbeds are legged robots doing locomotion tasks, but other robotic applications can be considered. Your application should explain how your research project fits these goals.
Who we are looking for
You should have a strong background in at least one of the following areas:
- Reinforcement learning (e.g., deep RL, world models, sim-to-real transfer)
- Foundation models (e.g., LLMs, vision-language-action models, post-training)
- Evolutionary algorithms (e.g., Quality-Diversity optimisation, divergent search)
- Robotics (e.g., control theory, model predictive control)
You will also need strong analytical and programming skills, and a First Class or Distinction Masters degree, or equivalent, in a relevant discipline. Applicants must be fluent in spoken and written English.
How to apply
- Register your interest with BOLD to be notified when applications open for the next cohort.
- If you have any questions, please email Professor Antoine Cully and start your subject line with “[BOLD PHD]” to show that you have read this page.
For general information about doing a PhD in the Department of Computing, see our PhD page.
The position is based at Imperial’s South Kensington campus in central London, with regular time alongside BOLD colleagues in Oxford.
We are committed to equality and valuing diversity. We are also an Athena SWAN Silver Award winner, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, a Two Ticks Employer, and are working in partnership with GIRES to promote respect for trans people.
