Candidates for postdoctoral grant proposals

Institute of Geomatics

 Contacto correo-e:cv@ideg.es

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The Institute of Geomatics (IG) invites applications for a

Researchers (Postdoc)

(candidates for postdoctoral grant proposals)

for all Institute of Geomatics research units

Reference: PD-grants_2011-09-29

1       Call objectives

Preselection of candidates with potential to win competitive postdoctoral research grants in upcoming calls on national and international level, in particular the calls of the Spanish R+D programmes (“Ramon y Cajal”, “Juan de la Cierva”, “Beatriu Pinós”) and the grants of the European “People” Programme. In case of successful preselection by the Institute, a proposal to the most adequate grant programmes shall be elaborated in collaboration between the candidate and the Institute. The creation of a research position will depend on the outcome of the joint grant proposal initiatives. Therefore, candidates with promising advanced scientific curriculum, willing to actively go through the different stages of grant proposals and to incorporate themselves into one of the IG’s Research Units are encouraged to present their candidature. This call concern both research proposals related to one of the current research areas of the IG’s Units (see description below)

 and new research lines that are thematically close/related to the above current research areas. The new research lines are typically related to the previous research experience of the candidate.

2       Description of the position

Function:       Researcher (external grant) for one of the IG’s research units

Title / appellation:    Researcher

Duration:       Temporal position according to the duration of the corresponding grant. Towards the end of the grant, opportunities of continuation shall be evaluated mutually, towards the end of the eventual grant.

Salary range:   According to the selected candidate’s experience and capacities.

Reporting:              To the Head of the Unit.

Functions and activities:

•       Integration into and responsibility for important research projects of the unit, as to be defined in joint grant proposals and as result of new project initiatives during the grant.

•       Scientific, technical and academic activities of the Unit.

•       Technical and scientific project management.

•       Scientific support to other researchers’ activities and to project acquisition.

•       Supervision of Master and doctoral thesis and final projects and other educational tasks.

3       The Institute of Geomatics (IG) – www.ideg.es

The Institute of Geomatics is a non-profit public consortium of the autonomous Government of Catalonia (GC) and the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC). Its mission is to promote and develop geomatics, through applied research and education, for the general benefit of society.

The IG is located in the Mediterranean Park of Technology in Castelldefels (Spain), about 30 minutes from Barcelona city centre. The Park provides excellent conditions for conducting focussed research and additional facilities like for example Campus Residency for workers and students.

The Institute of Geomatics is organized along modern academic management principles. It integrates a friendly and motivating research atmosphere together with scientific, technical and administrative rigour. We practice the knowledge triangle of research, innovation and education. We trust and respect people.

The IG staff constitutes a multidisciplinary team with strong backgrounds in cartography, geodesy, geography, mathematics, electronic engineering, civil engineering and computer science. The IG has a record of cooperation with other academic groups, with private companies and with public administration at the international level, with partners in Europe and the Americas.

4       IG’s Research Units

Integrated Geodesy and Navigation Unit (GIN)

The GIN unit conducts research in order to make kinematically acquired data ready for interpretation.  For this purpose, the unit has specialized in precise navigation and trajectory determination with multi-sensor systems and in the orientation and calibration of navigation and remote sensing sensors. In the past recent years, the unit has used these techniques for airborne, terrestrial and UAV-based geodata acquisition and mapping applications.

More specifically, the GIN unit investigates static and kinematic precise positioning with INS/GPS/Galileo, the combined orientation and calibration of photographic and LiDAR sensors, kinematic INS/GPS/Galileo gravity determination, UAV safe navigation for geomatics and personal navigation with low cost devices. The GIN unit develops software and hardware prototypes for scientific and technology transfer purposes.

Active Remote Sensing Unit (TA)

The TA unit conducts research and development activities in the analysis and exploitation of data coming from spaceborne, airborne and terrestrial active remote sensing sensors for a wide range of applications. As its name indicates, the activities of the TA unit are related to active sensor types, as for example Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Laser Scanners. Nevertheless, TA has experience with passive sensors that produce for instance optical images.

From the applications point of view TA is highly specialized in the measurement and monitoring of deformations. In addition the unit's curriculum includes works in other applications like Digital Terrain Model generation among others. Some of the main research areas of the TA unit include:

•       Interferometric SAR (InSAR), differential interferometric SAR (DInSAR) and terrestrial SAR for deformation monitoring and DEM generation: algorithms, analysis methods and development of new applications.

•       Terrestrial Laser Scanning: feature and attribute extraction techniques, integration with data coming from other terrestrial sensors, development of geomatic applications.

•       Airborne laser scanner (LiDAR): feature and attribute extraction techniques, integration with photogrammetric data, development of applications related to cartography, 3D city models and GIS modelling.

•       New imaging and non-imaging sensors: integration and fusion of multiple data sources for information extraction, data validation, development of geomatic applications, etc.

3D Geo-Visualization and Modelling Unit (3D-GVM)

The 3D-GVM unit conducts research to improve the communication of spatial information through advanced modelling, visualization and interaction techniques, focusing on the use of mixed-reality to make  geo-information accessible to a wide range of users and applications.

The central goal of the unit is to investigate the potential of 3D visualization and interaction to improve communication, analysis and interaction with geospatial and spatio-temporal data. To this end the group conducts research in the visualization and interactive analysis of complex geospatial datasets and develops and evaluates technologies for  advanced user interface like mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR) and adaptive user interfaces for location aware mobile applications. Applying a user centred design perspective these technologies are validate in a wide range of geospatial applications.

5       Research terms of reference

The position offers the opportunity to further develop a promising scientific curriculum conducting research in the dynamic and challenging research domains outlined in the above unit descriptions, altogether in an international, multidisciplinary but specialized and focussed context.

The candidate is expected to have significant research experience within his field of expertise (related to one of the units’ domains) and a demonstrated interest to conduct leading-edge research in interdisciplinary collaboration.

6       Candidate profile

•       Academic background and degree:

-       PhD in geomatics or related disciplines (e.g. computer science, engineering, physics or mathematics, …).

-       Significant record of relevant scientific publications. This is a fundamental point: the candidate is supposed to have at least four publications in international and peer-reviewed journals related to the research terms of reference of this call.

-       Experience in conducting research at the academic level. Project leadership experience, the management of R+D projects and the supervision of PhD and MSc students are assets.

•       Language skills:

The candidate is expected to communicate fluently and flawlessly in English. Knowledge of Spanish and Catalan is an asset. The candidate is expected to reach a sufficient “operational” communication level in Catalan or Spanish within one year.

Información complementaria de la oferta:

This call is published at http://www.ideg.es. For this call no Institute staff is eligible and only external candidates shall be considered.

Applications shall contain:

-       a detailed CV supported by documental evidence, with publications and patents, showing, where possible, in particular the impact factor of papers published in Science Citation Index (SCI) journals.

-       a proposal stating the vision and research goals of the candidate;

-       one letter of reference.

Questions regarding the position can be directed to cv@ideg.es.

The required documentation shall be sent to cv@ideg.es or the address indicated below.

INDICATE REFERENCE PD-grants_2011-09-29 in all communication.

Deadline for the presentation of applications is 31/10/2011.