Postdoctoral Researcher in prediction and optimization of sustainability indicators to join the European project SOSFood
Associate Professor Paulo Félix is looking for a skilled and enthusiastic Postdoctoral Researcher to join the SOSFood project. SOSFood has received €3.9M funding from Horizon Europe programme (Cluster 6 Call “Innovative governance, environmental observations and digital solutions in support of the Green Deal”) and aims to design, develop and validate data-driven AI-based tools to transform the food system to be more productive, inclusive, sustainable and resilient. The project involves leading academic and industry partners from nutrition, health, computer science, environmental sciences, policy and economics, including all stakeholders of the food system.
As a Postdoctoral Research, you will lead the development of new methods to model the coupling and interaction among the food, social, political, legal, economic, environmental and climate systems. You will take into account the multiple dependencies among these different systems, approaching the problem as a sort of multioutput or multitask learning. Importantly, the assumption that the spatio-temporal dependence structure is constant throughout the sampling region is clearly violated in the sort of scenarios to be modelled. In our view, a process convolution approach to Gaussian process regression with nonstationary covariance functions might be a good starting point but we will be happy to listen to your ideas and welcome your initiative. Ultimately, the interpretability of the resulting models is demanded to enable better-informed decision-making involving all food system actors.
Selection criteria
For this position, we are looking for a researcher with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics, Physics or Computer Engineering with a PhD in a related discipline. An in-depth knowledge of Machine Learning and related research methods and applications is essential, as well as strong programming skills using platforms such as MATLAB, R or Python. Excellent written and communication skills in English are also required. You will work with the support of an experienced group with a background in statistical learning, and with a balanced team of professionals consisting of scientists from different disciplines, clinical fellows, industry analysts and research governance managers.
Position details
- 1 postdoctoral full-time contract for 3 years with a gross salary of about 3,300€/month (approx. 39,600€ annual gross salary). It includes medical care coverage and work accident insurance through the Spanish Health System, as well as unemployment and pension benefits.
- The estimated starting date will be from February-March 2025.
- Location: Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña, Spain).
- Funds to attend international scientific conferences within the framework of the SOSFood project (101134894, HORIZON-CL6-2023-GOVERNANCE-01).
What we offer
- An extensive international network of scientific and technological collaborators.
- Professional development and training plan aimed at improving scientific and transversal skills to prepare our researchers for a competitive scientific career.
- State-of-the-art scientific facilities with equipped laboratories, our own data processing centre and free access to the second supercomputing centre in Spain (CESGA), located on the same Campus.
- A professional research support team with extensive experience in project management, financing opportunities, technology transfer, IT management, dissemination and outreach, HR management, economic and administrative management.
- Possibility to participate in dissemination events with industry and outreach activities with scholars, organised throughout the year.
- CiTIUS is committed to reconcile the work and family life of its employees. Specific benefits include flexible working schedules, young scientist promotion opportunities, parental leave benefits, nursery services, care for dependents and much more.
- Access to university facilities: gym, sport activities, language courses, libraries, etc.
Who we are
CiTIUS is a research centre specialised in Intelligent Technologies with a team of more than 120 researchers. Our team is the greatest asset of our centre and we are continuously looking for scientific talent. CiTIUS provides a stimulating, interdisciplinary and cutting-edge scientific environment, where our researchers can foster and develop their scientific career in an international team. We are in a high-level scientific environment with five research centres specialized in different areas (CiQUS, CiMUS, IGFAE, CRETUS and CiTIUS) that belong to University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). The city where is located, Santiago de Compostela, is a UNESCO World Heritage City with more than 5 million square meters of green spaces and one of the 100 best places in the world by TIME Magazine 2021.
USC offers a vibrant environment for postdoctoral research, characterized by its academic excellence and rich history. Founded in 1495, USC is one of the oldest universities in Europe and has been recognized for its significant contribution to science and culture. Hosting around 20,000 undergraduate students and more than 2,500 PhD students, USC provides a dynamic and diverse academic community. The university has been awarded the “HR Excellence in Research” by the EC under the HRS4R process, highlighting its commitment to supporting researchers.
Expression of Interest
Please send an email with your expression of interest including a CV and a cover letter that outlines how you match the criteria and why you are applying for this position to anabelen.garcia@usc.es. Please include details of your referees (e-mail address and phone number), one of which must be your most recent line manager.
For informal inquiries regarding the role, please contact Professor Paulo Félix (paulo.felix@usc.es).
Deadline: January 13rd 2025.