About the position

The Centre for Geophysical Forecasting (CGF) at NTNU has vacancies for 11 PhD fellowships. The Centre is one of the newly-established Norwegian centres for research-driven innovation, funded by the Research Council of Norway and industry partners.  

The goal of the CGF is to become a world-leading research and innovation hub for the geophysical sciences, creating innovative new products and services in Earth sensing and forecasting domains. As the global ecosystem enters a period of dramatic change, there is a strong need for accurate monitoring and forecasting of the Earth. Examples include landslides, avalanches, earthquakes, groundwater and hydrocarbon resources and safe underground CO2 storage.  

Norway is already at the forefront of global exploration geophysics and we intend to leverage that expertise to create the world-leading research and innovation centre for sustainable resource exploitation. The main objective here is to better understand and sustainably exploit the tremendous value of the Earth’s crust. Key research and innovation areas include new ways to monitor the geological storage of CO2, reconfiguring petroleum production, and to develop new geohazard early warning systems.

The primary focus for the CGF will be to bring valuable, cost-effective and robust geophysical monitoring and forecasting services to Carbon Capture and sequestration (CCS), hydrocarbon and geohazard/geoengineering markets, creating both new market segments for partners and establishing successful spin off companies.

The CGF will catalyse a new wave of geophysical capabilities, much broader than hydrocarbon exploration and production, applying disruptive new technologies to novel enterprises that will be game changers in the transition from hydrocarbon geophysics to the new blue and green economies and to important terrestrial geohazard risk monitoring and early warning applications.  

About the positions

The successful applicants will work at the CGF premises at NTNU in Trondheim in our team of key researchers. The PhD research fellowships will be hosted by one of the following departments at NTNU: Computer Science, Electronic Systems, Geoscience and Petroleum or Mathematical Sciences.The project has close contact with industry partners Aker BP, ASN, BaneNor, Digital Geologi, Equinor, NPRA (Statens Vegvesen), NVE, Tampnet, TietoEvry and Uninett, as well as research partners NORSAR and Jamstec in Japan.  

Duties of the position

The CGF will conduct research in computer science, electronic systems, geophysics and mathematical sciences. PhD students will use and develop advanced models and methods for combining diverse geophysical data to effectively monitor the earth. PhD students will be involved in the planning of new surveys and the acquisition of valuable geophysical information to improve forecasts and provide important decision support for the various application domains of the CGF.  

The CGF is developing novel methods for the cost-effective use of fiber optic cables, creating Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) systems for Earth monitoring. Such DAS data complement traditional geophysical data sources such as seismic waveform measurements, electromagnetic data, and geomodelling information.  

To extract the important variables from massive spatio-temporal geophysical data, the CGF will work on high performance computing and AI-based approaches for feature extraction, enabling efficient monitoring and early warning systems in the various geosciences applications.  

PhD research work will be led by supervisors with strong scientific profiles in the specific disciplines at the CGF.

The CGF is determined to deliver research-based innovation, and it will strongly stimulate PhD candidates to create and develop innovative ideas into business potential both for the Centre partners as well as in spin-off companies. The key innovation areas of the CGF are in CCS management, hydrocarbon production monitoring and geohazards monitoring and forecasting.

Required selection criteria

The PhD-position's main objective is to qualify for work in research positions. The qualification requirement is that you have completed a master’s degree or second degree (equivalent to 120 credits) with a strong academic background in [subject area] or equivalent education with a grade of B or better in terms of NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you are unable to meet these criteria you may be considered only if you can document that you are particularly suitable for education leading to a PhD degree

Applicants must satisfy the requirements for entering the PhD program at NTNU; please see e.g. http://www.ntnu.edu/ie/research/phd .

The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant. 

We are looking for highly-motivated candidates with a strong background in at least one of the core disciplines of the CGF, with a keen interest in multidisciplinary scientific research and innovation.  

• PhD students enrolled in the Department of Computer Science must have a solid background in (i) computer systems, computer engineering and parallel programming or (ii) artificial intelligence and machine learning. Knowledge and experience with high performance computing, feature extraction, Bayesian or causal networks, or stochastic optimisation is an advantage. (No. 1 and 2 in list below.)
• PhD students enrolled in the Department of Electronic Systems must have a solid background either in (i) physics and signal processing or (ii) artificial intelligence and machine learning with applications to signal processing. Knowledge and experience with processing large wave field datasets, numerical modeling and coupling of pressure and shear waves in different materials or long-distance data-communication optical transmission systems is an advantage. (No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 in list below.)
• PhD students enrolled in the Department of Geoscience and Petroleum must have a solid background in geophysics, physics/applied mathematics, numerical methods and programming. Knowledge and experience with rock physics modeling, seismic anisotropy or multi-phase flow theory is an advantage. (No. 7, 8, 9 and 10 in list below.)
• PhD students enrolled in the Department of Mathematical Science must have a solid background in multivariate modeling and computational statistics. Knowledge and experience with spatial statistics or other large-scale uncertain systems is an advantage. (No. 11 in list below.)

Proposed PhD topics include:

1. High performance computing for geophysical inversion and forecasting.
2. Artificial intelligence and machine learning methods for interpretable analysis of cause and effect in geoscience.
3. Machine learning methods for feature extraction in massive geoscience sensor measurements
4. Geophysical activity monitoring methods which are integrated or embedded with long-distance data-communication optical transmission systems
5. Determining soil saturation by seismic velocities for near-surface characterization using DAS data
6. Using geophysical methods with DAS for geohazards monitoring.
7. Multiphysics modeling for in-well monitoring of production/injection wells using fiber optic data.
8. Leading-edge detection of lateral migration of CO2 plumes using plume-dynamics models and 4D seismic processing 
9. Detection and forecasting of vertical migration of CO2 using high-resolution models of overburden sequences.
10. Seismic wave propagation and inversion in fractured anisotropy media.
11. Bayesian statistical methods for geophone and DAS monitoring of geohazards risk

MSc students who expect to complete their Master’s degree studies by summer 2021 are encouraged to apply.  Employment will then start when the MSc degree is completed.
Applicants who are not fluent in a Scandinavian language must document a thorough knowledge of English (equivalent to a TOEFL score of 600 or more).

Personal characteristics

In the evaluation of candidates, emphasis will be placed on education and experience, as well as personal suitability for the position which will include:

• Willingness and ability to learn new skills and approaches in a multidisciplinary team research environment.
• Strong drive to transition new research results and technologies into innovative products and services.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.  
• Self-motivated, ambitious, resilient, resourceful, result-oriented, and independent.
• Excellent writing skills, capable of synthesizing and expressing complex ideas clearly.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

PhD candidates are remunerated in code 1017, and are normally remunerated at gross from NOK 482 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years. In some cases there may be options for extending the contract beyond the PhD by up to an additional year for students strongly engaged in innovation efforts or for some with interest in supplementary teaching. 

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution on a daily basis.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in the respective area within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

About the application

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above. 

The application must include the following:

• CV which includes information about education background and work experience.
• A motivation letter indicating i) primary field (department or topic) of interest in PhD study according to topics mentioned in qualification requirements and selection criteria, ii) a description of experience or motivation for working on research-based innovation.
• Certified copies of relevant transcripts and diplomas.  Candidates from universities outside Norway are kindly requested to send a Diploma Supplement or similar documentation, which describes in detail the program of study, the grading system, and the rights to further studies associated with the degree obtained.
• Contact information for two references.  
•   Documentation of fluency in the English language.  

Applicants who have been short-listed will be invited for interviews.

If you are invited for an interview you must include certified copies of transcripts and reference letters. 

Please refer to the application number 2021/10964 when applying. 

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal suitability.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

A good work environment is characterized by diversity. We encourage qualified candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, functional capacity or cultural background. 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality. 

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

Information Act (Offentleglova), your name, age, position and municipality may be made public even if you have requested not to have your name entered on the list of applicants.

Questions about the position can be directed to Jo Eidsvik (jo.eidsvik@ntnu.no ), Ståle Johansen (stale.johansen@ntnu.no ) or Martin Landrø (martin.landro@ntnu.no ).

Please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide confirmation of Master Diploma from China Credentials Verification (CHSI).

Application deadline: 15.03.2021.

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Mathematical Sciences 

We are Norway’s largest university environment in mathematical sciences. 
The Department has a particular responsibility for all basis education in mathematical sciences for engineering and natural science students at NTNU. We focus on long-term basic research and applied research at a high international level. 

Our aim is to meet the society’s needs for mathematical and statistical expertise in business and public administration as well as in the research and education sector.  The Department of Mathematical Sciences is one of seven departments in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering .

Deadline 15th March 2021
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime (11 jobs)
Duration Project
Place of service Trondheim