Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) Internships and Fellowships provide paid civilian research opportunities for high school through postdoctoral individuals in U.S. Army Research Labs and Centers. Projects focus on the most current and cutting-edge priorities of the Department of Defense.

Recruiting postdoctoral researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, known as DEVCOM ARL, the Army’s research laboratory. Nested strategically within DEVCOM and the Army Futures Command, ARL’s mission is to Operationalize Science. A hallmark of ARL’s mission is collaborative partnerships to broaden Army access to expert talent and accelerate transitions of science-enabled capabilities. This site operates on a rolling application basis. Due to the high volume of applications, not all candidates may receive an immediate response. However, all applications will remain under consideration for future opportunities as they become available. Applicants must be 16 to apply.

Seeking Postdoctoral Fellows for the following projects:

XR for Shared Mission Planning, Analysis, and Situational Awareness (ARLW003)

Technologies like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (collectively XR) create new opportunities to help people understand complex, quickly changing, and highly uncertain information. Research under this project will help us understand how to effectively and efficiently portray information to people and groups to support fast, accurate decision-making, creativity, and adaptability.

Specific topics might include:
Dynamic filtering, contextual zoom, and information summarization for individual and group awareness
Uncertainty portrayal and expression
Interacting with new kinds of information
Human/Autonomy Interaction in XR

Deepfake Detection (ARLW004)

Deepfake - an emerging AI digital manipulation technology is being increasingly weaponized, posing a significant threat to our society and national security. The original concept of deepfake or AI-synthesized hyper-realistic images or videos, has been decried primarily in connection with involuntary depictions of people..

Recently, significant concerns have been raised about a far more nefarious threat, Deepfake geospatial data (i.e., satellite images, maps, digital terrain models, etc.), which drives deepfakes to another level. Geospatial data plays a pivotal role in Army mission planning and operations. Imagine a scenario in which an intelligent analyst or mission planning software is fooled by fake satellite image or map that shows a non-existent bridge in marching route, or a terrain model of fake road obstacles being transmitted to an autonomous vehicle to mislead its navigation system. Deepfakes are increasingly used to manipulate scenes and pixels/objects to create artifacts on geospatial data for malicious purposes.

This project aims to develop novel techniques and solutions for detecting and defending against deepfake attacks on geospatial data. It will focus on theoretical research and practical algorithms, which enables deepfakes of geospatial data to be detected and defended respecting the functional and physical properties of real scenes.

We have developed a breakthrough method for detection of deepfake face images to support mission-critical data integrity protection. This technique achieves a lightweight, low training complexity and high-performance deepfake face detection. We will enhance and extend this theory and framework for the detection and recognition of deepfake geospatial data including satellite images, maps, and digital terrain data.

Anticipated outcomes include new theory and algorithm developments leading to publications in scientific forums and real-world utility and software for Army evaluations.

To apply for a position:
1) Click Apply Now
2) Create a New Account
3) Start “2025 Fellowship Application”
4) Under “4. Fellowship Opportunities,” search for the opportunity using the AEOP reference code
5) Select to apply