PhD ‘Sandwich’ Computer-aided Analysis of Radio Astronomy Data (1.0 FTE)

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

The project will be 4 years long where the candidate will spend two years at UG and two years at SU. The selected candidate would be required to enrol as a PhD student at both institutions for all four years. Two years at UG will be supported by a PhD Scholarship and two years at SU will be supported by a SU E&E Departmental Scholarship. Over and above there will be a joint double doctorate agreement with the two Universities. At the UG the candidate would become a member of the Information Systems group of the Computer Science Department and will work under the supervision of Dr. George Azzopardi and Prof. Dimka Karastoyanova, and at the SU the candidate would be a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Stefan Wijnholds and Dr. Trienko Grobler. Below are more details about the two Universities and the conditions.

University of Groningen (UG). Founded in 1614, it enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 36,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Conditions at UG. The PhD student will be enrolled in the PhD Scholarship Programme of the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen from where s/he will receive a scholarship of € 2,207 per month (gross) for a period of 2 years. Information about the terms and conditions of the PhD Scholarship Programme can be found via: https://www.rug.nl/education/phd-programmes/phd-scholarship-programme/.

The scholarship PhD student will participate in the Graduate School of Science training programme for PhD students and will draw up a personal training and supervision plan together with his or her supervisors from both UG and SU. The UG Graduate School also provides a progress monitoring scheme to ensure an efficient PhD trajectory resulting in a PhD thesis within 4 years. A Career Perspectives curriculum is part of the training, which aims to prepare students for their (academic or non-academic) careers after the PhD trajectory.

Stellenbosch University (SU). It is a public research university that was founded in 1918. SU’s vision is to be the leading research-intensive university on the African continent by pursuing excellence and remaining at the forefront of its chosen focus areas, by gaining national and international standing based on its research outputs, by being relevant to the needs of the community, and by being enterprising, innovative and self-renewing. SU has a wide variety of study programmes and a student corpus of about 30,000 students. It is regarded as one of the top research institutions in Africa.

Conditions at SU. The PhD student will simultaneously be enrolled in the SU Faculty of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from where s/he will receive a scholarship of R140 000 (net)per annum for a period of 2 years and will carry out his/her PhD research according to the agreed training and supervision plan. In addition to the UG Graduate School of Science and Engineering training programme, the scholarship PhD student will also be able to participate in any SU Postgraduate Skills Development training opportunities on offer.