Publishing research papers, attending lectures, acquiring soft skills, and participating in conferences – doctoral students enrolled in the Graduate School are familiar with the achievements required before submitting their doctoral theses. Now, the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has established a Graduate Program specifically focusing on Robotics and Machine Intelligence. This program aims to impart the exact skills necessary in the interdisciplinary field of robotics and concludes with a certificate from MIRMI.

Participation in hackathons counts towards the doctoral program

Key features of the program include:

• Interdisciplinary and international training, which includes spending two months working at another research institution, an industry company, a clinic, or a startup to gain different perspectives on the subject.
• The requirement to publish a minimum of two scientific publications during the program, which lasts at least two years.
• An interdisciplinary seminar series at MIRMI on the topic "Making an impact in robotics and machine intelligence." This series covers topics such as ethics in robotics, social and political aspects in product development, patent law, innovation management, and entrepreneurship.
• Doctoral students engage in subject-specific training, attend seminars and courses, participate in international summer schools, and workshops.
• Scientific Clubs: Engagement in activities such as organizing seminars and workshops, participating in hackathons or Robothons, developing research proposals, and presenting dissertations and papers in interdisciplinary settings can be credited in this program. This aims to establish regular formats that doctoral students must attend.

Both the two-month stay outside their own department and the regular participation in Scientific Clubs are requirements that go beyond the standard workload of a graduate program.

Robotics doctoral students networked better

The duration of the Graduate Program ultimately depends on the doctoral students themselves. The program lasts at least two years. However, due to researchers also being involved in teaching and not pursuing research tasks full-time, it is estimated that it will take an average of about four and a half years before the first certificate from MIRMI is issued. Professor Daniel Rixen, who developed the program over the past few years along with Dr. Abdalla Swikir and Professor David Franklin and coordinated with the TUM schools involved, estimates this timeline. Rixen emphasizes the importance of this program for robotics, stating that this research area is highly interdisciplinary, involving fields such as nanotechnology, medicine, ethics, AI, and mechanical engineering. Therefore, the program's goal is to better connect doctoral students from various departments and promote collaboration among them. Doctoral student Theresa Prinz, who worked as a sparring partner in the program's development, appreciates this interdisciplinary aspect, saying, "The program's interdisciplinarity can be inspiring and is essential, especially because we often speak different languages depending on our respective fields." It's worth noting that those who have already started a graduate program can also join this one.  

For more information about the Graduate Program, visit:  https://www.mirmi.tum.de/mirmi/lehre/doctoral-program/

To register (starting from October 16. 2023):  https://airtable.com/appX2dQqaU9j8UmpZ/shr3MHDlvvWMMdDN8

Contact for information: gradprog(at)mirmi.tum.de

Details about a Get Together event (with pizza and drinks): Information event on October 20, 4:30 PM; Georg-Brauchle-Ring 58, 80992 Munich, Ground Floor, Room M01

If you wish to attend, please send a short email to gradprog(at)mirmi.tum.de.