Networked Autonomous Aerial Vehicles

The Karl Popper Doktorats- und Wissenschaftskolleg (KPK) advances collaborative research and education in the field of Networked Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (NAV) and makes Klagenfurt a hub in this emerging and disruptive technology. Groups from robotics, pervasive computing, mobile communications systems, multimedia systems, and other disciplines join forces to create an inspiring environment in which faculty members, PhD students, international research fellows, and world-leading labs and companies closely collaborate.

Active knowledge and innovation exchange opens novel perspectives and ensures the best preparation for students aiming at an R&D career in this exciting field. The structure of the program encompasses a cutting-edge research portfolio aiming for scientic excellence linked to a well-chosen and team-oriented education program. All participants are committed to common scientific goals by focusing on a realistic application scenario in autonomous 3D reconstruction with small-scale collaborative aerial vehicles. The international network is a key strength of the program, where 18 highly renowned experts and several outstanding research institutions and companies participate. Members of the doctoral school can therefore easily connect with the worldwide community, generate research at global scale, and obtain feedback from distinguished collaborators. The integrated quality control processes ensure continuous improvement.

The program signicantly strengthens the university’s recently defined area of excellence Networked and Autonomous Systems and also fits well into the multi-disciplinary research cluster Self-Organizing Systems. It bundles and leverages the research activities of the involved AAU groups and establishes in combination with several researchers funded by other sources, including FFG and highly-competitive Horizon 2020 projects a doctoral school of at least 12 students.