About the position

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

The PhD fellowships in Real-time hyperspectral data processing in small satellite and autonomous systems are associated with the Real-Time Remote Hyperspectral Imaging on Aerial Vehicles and Small Satellites (ARIEL) project funded by Norwegian Research Council. The PhD-positions will focus on onboard processing of high-dimensional remotely sensed data streams produced by hyperspectral imager on satellite platforms to significantly reduce the amount of required bandwidth and storage and on real-time realizations of cost-effective techniques for information extraction, image segmentation and dimensionality reduction.

The ARIEL project aims to contribute to the development of an observational pyramid consisting of NTNU’s unique satellites with hyperspectral imagers (HYPSO) and other autonomous agents. The project brings together a team of leading scientists with expertise in remote sensing, autonomous systems, reconfigurable and embedded systems, hyperspectral imaging, small satellite systems, ocean modelling, bio-optics, bio-geo-chemistry, and ecology.

Your immediate leader is Head of Department of Electronic Systems.

Duties of the position

• Building onboard hyperspectral imaging systems onto heterogeneous platforms,
• Exploration of hyperspectral techniques for image segmentation, target and anomaly detection and dimensionality reduction, 
• Design and implementation of specialized and reconfigurable computing architectures for hyperspectral imaging applications,
• Design and implementation of accelerators for machine learning algorithms in hyperspectral imaging applications onto FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) and
• Building verification framework for the hyperspectral processing systems for satellite and aerial vehicles.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a professionally relevant background in digital system design, high performance reconfigurable computing, energy-efficient computing, hardware/software design development and/or embedded systems design. Candidates with a strong background in hyperspectral imaging and signal processing towards machine learning will also be considered.
• Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level 
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education. 
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program. 

The appointment is to be made in accordance with  Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant  

Preferred selection criteria

Useful qualifications for candidates are: 

• Hardware-description languages (VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog)
• High-level hardware programming (HLS)  
• Programming (e.g., C, Python, Matlab)
• Knowledge about remote sensing, preferably hyperspectral imaging
• SW/HW co-design towards machine learning applications
• Experience with development or operations of micro/nano- satellites or CubeSats
• Knowledge about remote sensing, preferably hyperspectral imaging
• Experience with image data and processing pipelines
• Interdisciplinary experience and skills
• Good written and oral English and Norwegian language skills  

Personal characteristics

• be creative, independent, and self-motivated
• be team player, focusing on the success of the group
• have desire to learn how complex systems such satellites and aerial vehicles work
• have ability to utilize and improve complex systems
• possess good skills to deliver oral and written presentations of research results
• have very good communication written and oral English or Scandinavian languages

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities. 

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

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 491 200 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 4 years including 25% compulsory work related to teaching duties, for candidates that can not contribute to teaching duties the period of employment will be 3 years.

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

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. 

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

• CV and certificates
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Project proposal
• Name and contact information of three referees
• If you have publications or other relevant research work 

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation. 

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

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

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.  

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.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted. 

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Milica Orlandic, email milica.orlandic@ntnu.no. 

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.   

Application deadline: 11.09.22

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 Electronic Systems

The digitalization of Norway is impossible without electronic systems. We are Norway’s leading academic environment in this field, and contribute with our expertise in areas ranging from nanoelectronics, phototonics, signal processing, radio technology and acoustics to satellite technology and autonomous systems. Knowledge of electronic systems is also vital for addressing important challenges in transport, energy, the environment, and health. The Department of Electronic Systems is one of seven departments in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering .

Deadline 11th September 2022
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime (2 jobs)
Duration Temporary
Place of service Campus Gløshaugen