Titel Scientist

The Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) is a pioneer and a driver of bioeconomy research. We create the scientific foundation to transform agricultural, food, industrial and energy systems into a sustainable bio-based circular economy. We develop and integrate techniques, processes and management strategies, effectively converging technologies to intelligently crosslink highly diverse bioeconomic production systems and to control them in a knowledge-based, adaptive and largely automated manner. We conduct research in dialogue with society, policymakers, industry and other stakeholders - knowledge-driven and application-inspired.

Within the EU-funded research project “MEDSoil+: Excellence in Mediterranean Soil Regeneration”, the Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development (MED) of the University of Évora (UE, Portugal) will be positioned as the first fully accredited soil lab infrastructure in Portugal capable of generating high-quality, standardised and interoperable soil monitoring data, by training, co-designing innovation, demonstrating and disseminating breakthrough knowledge through Living Labs (LL). The ATB will accompany and consult this process and will be particularly responsible for establishing proximal & remote sensing and IoT solutions for connected soil health mapping and monitoring. For this task, we are looking for the following person from 1 January 2027

Scientist (m/f/d) (100%)

Yourtasks

• Utilise proximal and remote sensing technologies to generate high-spatial-resolution soil property maps
• Deploy IoT and remote sensing technologies to establish a soil health monitoring system delivering high-temporal-resolution data streams
• Establish a federated soil data platform combining decentralised data access and governance with a secure central repository, integrating scientific data, sensor outputs and local knowledge to support soil intelligence, research and policymaking
• Develop robust AI and machine-learning algorithms for soil data fusion, predictive analytics, uncertainty quantification and scenario modelling
• Co-design, adapt and integrate user-oriented decision support systems (DSS) that translate soil intelligence, predictive uncertainty and AI-driven analytics into actionable and reliable recommendations for farmers, land managers and landowners

Very good university degree (Master/Diploma) and ideally a PhD with focus in soil science and data science

• Very good knowledge and experience in sensor-based soil mapping and DSS
• Very good knowledge and experience in optical spectroscopy, sensor calibration and data science
• Very good programming skills (R, Python)
• Knowledge in agriculture, soil science, proximal and remote sensing and geographic information systems
• Very good written and spoken English and good knowledge of German
• Independent work, high personal commitment, reliability, flexibility, ability to work in a team and willingness to cooperate are required
• Experience in writing articles for scientific journals and publication record in the above research fields
• Willingness to present project results at international conferences
• Willingness to travel into other EU countries
• Confident use of MS Office programs
• EU driving license class B

An attractive, research-intensive and interdisciplinary working environment

• A varied position at the interface of science and practice
• Excellent infrastructure for scientific work
• Training and further education opportunities
• Family-friendly working conditions to promote work-life balance
• Participation in the VBB company ticket or Deutschlandticket
• A workplace at the edge of a picturesque landscape, easily accessible by bike or public transport

The full-time position (40 hours/week) is limited to six years. Part-time employment is also possible if desired. Salary will be based on your qualifications and experience according to TV-L up to pay grade 13.