PhD Research Internship – Robotics Engineer (VLM / VLA Models)
Sensmore, Berlin / Potsdam
About the job
sensmore is a Berlin/Potsdam-based robotics startup delivering production-proven automation for industries where the world’s raw materials are extracted, moved, and processed. Its automation system transforms heavy machines into intelligent, automated robots powered by Physical AI and vertically integrates them into the full production environment: from the machine and safety infrastructure to network infrastructure, site processes, and operational interfaces.
Co-developed with customers, sensmore is backed by Point Nine Capital, leading industry investors, the State of Brandenburg, and the European Union.
Role overview
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to join our team as a Research Intern specializing in General Purpose AI, with a focus on Vision-Language Models and Vision-Language-Action systems. This role sits at the frontier of industrial robotics: developing scalable, general-purpose VLA systems that enable robots to perceive, reason, and act autonomously in complex heavy-industry environments. You will contribute to bridging multi-modal perception (e.g., video, radar, lidar) with robust real-world execution, while advancing state-of-the-art methods in embodied AI.