Postdoctoral fellow

A 2-year postdoctoral researcher position is available in Precision Soil and Crop Engineering Group (Precision SCoRing), within the Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering in Ghent University (UGent) in Belgium. We are looking for an enthusiastic young engineer to work on two projects in precision agriculture. The first project is funded by the Flemish Scientific Research (FWO) under the Odysseus I call for proposal, with a total budget of €3.5 M: Towards Establishing a Centre of Site-specific Technology for Soil and Crop Management (https://www.ugent.be/bw/environment/en/research/presco/siteman ). The aim of is to establish a research platform combining cutting-edge soil and crop sensors, modelling and system control technology for managing farm resources (seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, water, and manure) site-specifically, with the final goal of establishing a precision agriculture centre in Flanders. The second project called VTskills funded by EC aiming to identify a set of skills related to green, digital, and resilience, which are necessary for viticulture farmers and workers to manage sustainable activity in the sector. These will incorporate technical skills linked to sustainable precision viticulture, green skills for implementing more sustainable practices, and resilience/entrepreneurial skills, as described in the Entrepreneurship Competence framework.

You will be responsible for leading the Precision SCoRing Group’s engineering research towards the design / implementation of precision agriculture technologies. You will also be responsible for the creating and running and education capacity on precision agriculture, which includes the following tasks:

• Design and create postgraduate courses on precision agriculture.
• Create teaching illustrations, video, ppts and other teaching support materials of the course.
• Plan, and run postgraduate courses on precision agriculture in collaboration with key EU partners.
• Attract attendees to the precision agriculture course through different channels including social media and alike.

Other responsibilities include:

• Assisting PhD and MSc students for field measurement, and design and implementation of new measurement or control systems.
• Submission of high quality publications in international scientific journals.
• Link and integrate research of different PhD students in the Group as deemed appropriate.
• Contribute to group activities as requested by your promoter that are within the remit of the role, the grant, and the associated grade. This may include:

1. Supporting the supervision of MSc and PhD students.
2. Contribute to the writing of research proposals to the EU and various national funding schemes.
3. Assist in attracting new partners/members and students to the group.
4. Provide guidance to other staff and students of the Department e.g., advise students on their progress and establish new research ideas.

Our offer:

• We offer you a contract of definite duration for the period from (1 April 2024 – 31 March, 2026).
• Your contract will start on 3/03/2024 at the earliest.
• Your remuneration will be determined by salary scale PD1 to PD4 . Click here for more information about our salary scales (https://www.ugent.be/en/work/talent/welcoming-new-staff/salaryscales ).
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits (in Dutch - https://www.ugent.be/nl/jobs/personeelsvoordelen.htm ).

• You hold a PhD degree in Mechatronics Engineering, Agriculture Engineering (not agronomy), Biosystems Engineering or Mechanical Engineering.
• Demonstrated teaching experience, preferably in precision agriculture / smart farming / digital farming
• The candidate should have demonstrable knowledge in the use of basic engineering software and modelling languages, such as, MATLAB Toolbox, LabVIEW, DaisyLab, AutoCAD, C++…..
• A track record of publishing high-impact journal articles.
• Working in interdisciplinary environments, good contextual understanding of agricultural systems and the ability to work in the field is desirable.
• Possessing excellent project and time management skills to ensure that milestones and deliverables are achieved to time and to high quality.
• The candidate should have a high level of proficiency in English sufficient to communicate effectively with colleagues and write papers and reports.
• The candidate should be prepared to work in close collaboration with the supervising team as well as the PhD students working within the project, in the group or in the department.
• Good practical problem solver / Ability to find appropriate solutions to academic and technical problems.
• Ability to work as a member of a team within a dynamic research group.

Send your CV, copy of your MSc degree and PhD diploma (if already in your possession), a motivation letter and a reference letter to abdul.mouazen @ugent.be  cc [email protected] .

We do not accept late applications.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Prof. name (abdul.mouazen @ugent.be , +32(0)9/ 264 6037)