PhD Scholarship - AI for Forest Robotics

NIBIO - Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research; Norway; On-site; NOK 555,000 - 635,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Norwegian language training

Pension scheme

Job summary

NIBIO - Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research in Ås, 30 km south of Oslo, offers a three-year PhD fellowship focused on teaching robots to understand forests in real time using LiDAR and camera data. The work will enable real-time localization and navigation through incremental ML on sensor data.

The candidate will be enrolled at NMBU and collaborate with the department's field robots. A Master's degree in data science, ML, robotics, or related fields is required, with English proficiency

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent five-year degree in data science, ML, robotics, or related field.
• Experience implementing and modifying deep learning architectures.
• Working knowledge of Python and a modern deep learning framework (PyTorch or TensorFlow).
• Strong command of oral and written English.
• Willingness and physical ability to outdoor field work in Norwegian forests.

Responsibilities

• Develop ML architectures that interpret 3D point cloud data incrementally for real-time use.
• Investigate compact representations of forest structure to support localisation and scene understanding.
• Adapt models to live sensor data: sparse, unevenly sampled, motion-distorted and partially observed.
• Implement and evaluate systems on embedded hardware and NIBIO robot platforms.
• Ensure admission requirements for the PhD programme at NMBU are met.

Skills

Python programming

Deep learning

English proficiency

C++ or systems programming

Education

Master's degree or 5-year equivalent in data science, ML, robotics

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

NIBIO - Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Organisation/Company NIBIO - Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research Research Field Agricultural sciences » Forest sciences Engineering » Computer engineering Technology » Computer technology Technology » Remote sensing Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 18 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Oslo) Country Norway Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37,5 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks MSCA DN Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Key Information

The PhD fellowship aims to teach robots to understand forest well enough to navigate and move through them in real time, using machine learning on LiDAR point clouds and camera imagery for real-time understanding of the forest scene, and leveraging that understanding for localization and navigation. A robot builds a picture of its surroundings one lidar scan at a time. Each scan on its own says very little; together they describe the forest in detail. Traditional inference methods run on finalized, clean data: but a robot needs an answer based only on partial observations.

The PhD aims to address this gap, taking machine learning models for segmenting and interpreting forest point clouds and rebuild them as real-time, incremental estimation systems. The work supports navigation, self-localization, and traversability work.

About the position

The position is a three year position, based at Ås, 30 km south of Oslo. The candidate will be enrolled at NMBU and works with the department's field robots.

To be a current applicant, you cannot have previously held a research fellowship position at NIBIO, and you cannot have a previous doctorate or have previously held a research fellowship position with funding from the Norwegian Research Council.

If you do not have skills in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish at level A2 upon employment, NIBIO will offer free Norwegian language training with the goal of achieving Norwegian skills at at least this level.

Main responsibilities

• Develop machine learning architectures that interpret 3D point cloud data incrementally,for real-time use,building an understanding of the surrounding forest as new observations arrive.
• Investigate compact representations offorest structure, and how theysupport localisation, place recognition and scene understanding
• Adapt models to the properties of live sensor data: sparse, unevenly sampled, motion-distorted and partially observed
• Implement and evaluate the resulting systems on embedded hardware and on NIBIO's robot platforms
• Master's degree, or equivalent five-year degree, in data science, machine learning, robotics, or a related field. The degree must be completed before the start date.
• Fulfils NMBU's requirements for admission to the PhD programme
• Experience implementing and modifying deep learning architectures. Working knowledge of Python and a modern deep learning framework.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with experience using modern deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• A strong command of oral and written English
• Willingness and physical ability to take part in outdoor field workin Norwegian forests.

Will be evaluated positively

• Deep learning on 3D and sensor data: point clouds, voxel or sparse representations, transformers, segmentation, registration. Experience designing or adapting architectures rather than only applying existing ones.
• Real-time and resource-constrained inference: quantisation, pruning, distillation, CUDA, embedded accelerators. C++ or other systems programming.
• Robotics and state estimation: SLAM, sensor fusion, place recognition, ROS/ROS2. Experience with UAVs, ground robots, or agricultural and forestry machinery.
• Practical experience building or integrating physical sensing systems and running field experiments
• Knowledge of forestry, remote sensing or ecology
• Knowledge of Norwegian or another Scandinavian language
• Ability to work independently on open-ended research problems, from idea through implementation to field validation
• Strong analytical ability and capacity to learn unfamiliar methods and tools quickly
• Commitment and enthusiasm for working as part of an ambitious research team
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to collaborate with colleagues and external partners from different academic backgrounds

Salary and benefits

• Opportunity to work on an important social mission with focus on sustainability and future-oriented projects
• Challenging, exciting and varied tasks in interdisciplinary teams
• A flexible everyday life with the opportunity to influence one's own work tasks
• A skilled professional environment with good colleagues
• A generous personnel policy with welfare schemes that focus on employees' different stages of life

The position is remunerated according to the Norwegian State Salary Scale as PhD research fellow, position 1017, salary NOK 555.000 - 635.000 per year, commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which includes a good occupational pension scheme, occupational injury and group life insurance, and low-interest home loans.

About diversity and inclusion - for applicants living in Norway:

In accordance with the Norwegian Civil Service equal opportunities policy, qualified candidates are encouraged to apply - regardless of age, gender, functional disabilities,gaps in CV or national or ethnic background.As a government agency, we have the opportunity to provide positive special treatment for applicants who have a disability, gaps in their CV or immigrant background. Positive special treatment means, among other things, that you will more easily come to the interview. Read more about this here (in norwegian).

About NIBIO and the Department

NIBIO's activities lie within agriculture, food, climate and the environment. The Institute conducts research and management support, and provides knowledge for use in national preparedness, governmental and district management, industry, and the society at large. NIBIO has approximately 750 employees present in all parts of the country. Its main office is located at Ås in Akershus.
NIBIO is owned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

We conduct background checks on final candidates as part of our recruitment process.

Other information

We would like to point out that information about applicants may be subject to public disclosure, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (Offentlighetsloven), Section 25. An applicant can request to be exempted from inclusion on a public list of applicants. If the request for confidentiality is denied, the applicant will be notified thereof.