PhD Studies

We welcome PhD candidates who want to pursue rigorous research at the intersection of AI and architectural or urban planning practice, grounded in real constraints and developed in collaboration with municipal and industry partners.

PhD Studies

About this position

  • Develop a research agenda around a real planning and design problem
  • Build methods or tools and validate them empirically
  • Work with real-world data and, in many cases, partner feedback loops
  • Publish throughout the PhD, often as first author
  • Contribute to lab infrastructure when relevant (datasets, benchmarks, tools)
  • Fully funded project-based positions

What We Do

AAIRL focuses on concrete problems in urban design and planning where AI can augment human capabilities. Our core research directions include:
  • Human-AI interaction in design
  • Generative architectural and urban design
  • Built-environment analysis
  • Built-environment simulations
Much of our work is conducted with industry and government partners, so research is tested against real constraints: incomplete data, conflicting objectives, regulations, and implementation realities.

What We Look For

  • Strong motivation for research and writing
  • Quantitative or computational ability (ML, statistics, simulation, optimization—any subset can work)
  • Ability to work independently while collaborating with the group
  • Backgrounds welcome from architecture, CS, engineering, urban studies, etc.

Applying for This Position

Our lab has project-funded PhD student positions. To express interest, email Dr. Haya Brama with the subject line “PhD inquiry” and include:

  • CV
  • Transcripts
  • A short paragraph describing your interests and relevant experience
  • (Optional) writing sample / portfolio / GitHub / previous thesis

More details are available on Ariel University’s PhD website.