UAV and AI remote sensing in Antarctica (PhD scholarship)

Applications close

31 July 2023

You'll receive a scholarship, tax exempt and indexed annually of $32,500 per annum for a period of three years, with a possible 12 month extension, subject to satisfactory progress.

If you're an international student, you will also receive either:

• an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) fees offset (International)
• a QUT research degree (HDR) tuition fee scholarship.

As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the fields of electrical engineering and robotics.

To apply for this scholarship, you must meet the entry requirements for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at QUT, including any English language requirements for international students.

Applicants are expected to commence in the PhD by 15 September 2023, and commit to full-time, internal enrolment.

You must also have:

• expertise in (or the potential for developing expertise in) UAV image processing, computer vision, and applied machine learning for image classification and regression
• the ability to code up pipeline models for UAV data in an appropriate programming language (MATLAB, ENVI and Python) is therefore essential for completion of the project
• although not strictly necessary, experience in hyperspectral and satellite image processing techniques and  understanding of vegetation reflectance would also be an advantage.

To apply for this opportunity, please email your CV and an outline of your proposed research project to Professor Felipe Gonzalez .

The successful applicant will be invited to apply for admission to QUT.

This fully funded PhD project provides aElecn exciting opportunity to develop new remote sensing capabilities to detect flora species in Antarctica and Subantarctic Islands using UAVs and machine learning. Expertise in computer science and in programming languages for applied machine learning will be a major advantage for the success of this project. Subject to COVID-19 restrictions, there may also be an opportunity to travel to Antarctica to visit the ecosystems you will be mapping.

This PhD project is part of a multi-university research program "Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future ". Through this program you will have the opportunity to collaborate with a wide-ranging group of experts in UAV remote sensing, and in biology in the context of Antarctic ecosystems to make your models as relevant and applicable as possible. Your modelling may also contribute to future decision-making for the management of Antarctica, to protect this pristine ecosystem for future generations.

Research activities include:

• processing satellite and UAV high-resolution RGB, multispectral and hyperspectral data, to detect and map vegetation at Antarctic and Subantarctic Islands
• coding machine learning pipelines to process satellite and UAV imagery in a relevant programming language (MATLAB, ENVI and/or Python)
• gaining a strong scientific training in satellite, UAV based remote sensing, AI,  enhancing future career prospects in research
• participating in a strong and supportive interdisciplinary group between QUT and Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and University of Wollongong .