PhD position in automated mapping of soil erosion on European scale 100%

starting date May 2025

Applications are invited for a PhD position in the automated mapping of soil erosion of grassland soils at the research group Environmental Geosciences of University of Basel with interest in soil erosion processes as well as remote sensing and machine learning techniques.

Your position

At the Department of Environmental Sciences within the research group Environmental Geosciences we are looking for a PhD candidate with interest in soil erosion research to explore the possibilities of upscaling the SWISS scale mapping tool AIMS Switzerland (Artificial Intelligence mapping of erosion features for Swiss grassland
Soils) to Europe. The project will be in cooperation with the Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Your profile

Candidates should have a university degree in environmental science or in a related field with some expertise in soil science. They are interested to work in an interdisciplinary research environment, interested in remote sensing, machine learning and modelling work and have good communication skills (English), along with proficiency in programming languages such as R or Python to handle high-resolution and large remote sensing datasets.

We offer you

We offer an interesting position in an international research environment. The position is funded for one plus three years according to University of Basel's rules.

Application / Contact

Please submit your complete application documents, including a letter stating your motivation and a short statement of research and teaching interests, experience and skills, a CV and contact details of at least two references via our online recruiting platform. For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Christine Alewell; christine.alewell@unibas.ch (submission of documents to this email will not be considered). Review of applications will begin 17th of February, 2025, however the process will be open until the position is filled.