PhD candidate in the research
project “Automatic Condition
Monitoring of County Roads”
About the position
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in cooperation with the
Department of Computer Science has a vacancy for a PhD candidate, connected
to the research project “Automatic Condition Monitoring of County Roads”
About the research project
The Norwegian county road network is essential for value creation and regional
development in the different Norwegian districts. Maintaining this network is
challenging due to a harsh climate, significant back log and limited budgets. The
county Innlandet is committed to improve the maintenance of their network but?
currently lack a good complete overview of the condition of their road network.
Today they rely heavily on manual labour for condition monitoring and it takes
too much time to get the necessary data. This hampers sound maintenance
budget justification and timely decision making. Advances in computer vision,
artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning provides new possibilities to
radically improve and automate parts of the road condition monitoring process.
In the research project “Automatic Condition Monitoring of County Roads” we
will develop, apply, and evaluate new AI models to interpret images taken from
the road network. The project will instrument busses in regular service with a
data collection system and develop a pilot system for collecting data,
interpreting the images, and analysing/predicting the maintenance needs.
About the position
As PhD candidate you will get enrolled in NTNU’s PhD programme and the main
goal of the position is to learn and conduct high-quality research. You will
become member of a team of researchers (other PhD candidates, Postdocs and
Professors) and will conduct research on how information from visual images and
the AI interpretation models can be utilized to plan and prioritize road
maintenance. For this position you need to have a background in civil
engineering (preferably a specialisation in road technology) or applied physics.
The actual programming and training of the AI models will be done by others
with a computer science background.
In the PhD programme you will attend courses, set-up and execute your research
project, write research papers and finalize your project with a PhD dissertation.
You will report to the professor responsible for the overall project.
Duties of the position
- Review the scientific literature road condition monitoring
- Contribute to the development of AI training data sets
- Analyze the performance of AI interpretation models, from a pavement
technology perspective
- Investigate the possibilities for predictive models that can, based on an
assessed current condition and other metadata, suggest what type of
maintenance is needed, and when it needs to be conducted
Required selection criteria
- You must have a professionally relevant background in Civil engineering,
applied physics, or equivalent education
- Your education must correspond to a five-year
Norwegian degree programme, where 120 credits are obtained at
master's level
- You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies
and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent
education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading
scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must
have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade
background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are
particularly suitable for a PhD education.
- You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral
program (www.ntnu.edu/studies/phiv)
- Strong analytical capabilities
- Fluent in English language, good written and oral communications skills
The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force
concerning
State Employees and Civil Servants and
Regulations concerning the
degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in
artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and
research assistant
Preferred selection criteria
- Documented experience in civil engineering, in particularly pavement
engineering
- Experience with programming language such as Phyton, Matlab or C++
- Experience with writing scientific publicationsGood oral and written
Norwegian language skills
Personal characteristics
- Innovation driven, enthusiastic and ambitious
- Self-motivated, curious, focused and goal-oriented
- Ability to solve complex technical tasks independently
- Excellent collaboration with different disciplines
We offer
Salary and conditions
PhD candidates are remunerated in code 1017, and are normally remunerated at
gross from NOK 491 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and
seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian
Public Service Pension Fund.
The period of employment is 3 years.
Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD
programme in Engineering (
https://www.ntnu.edu/studies/phiv) within three
months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD
programme during the employment period.
The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force
concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control
of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by
assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the
criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the
appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.
The position is subject to external funding.
It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.
About the application
The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the
assessment must be in English.
Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note
that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the
application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how
your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above.
The application must include:
- CV, certificates and diplomas
- transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have
not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that
the master's thesis has been submitted.
- A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's
thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed
master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
- Research plan or project proposal (max 1 A4 page)
- Name and address of three referees
- If you have publications or other relevant research work
If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach
documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's
and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the
documentation required can be found
here. If you already have a statement
from NOKUT, please attach this as well.
Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint
works, you must attach a brief description of your participation.
In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on
education, experience and personal and
interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the
assessment of the candidates.
NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according
to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.
General information
Working at NTNU
A good work environment is characterized by diversity. We encourage qualified
candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, functional capacity or cultural
background.
The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene.
Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The
Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and
overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional
subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim
offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and
possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and
clean air quality.
As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the
development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are
adopted.
In accordance with The Public Information Act (Offentleglova), your name, age,
position and municipality may be made public even if you have requested not to
have your name entered on the list of applicants.
If you have any questions about the position, please contact prof. Alex Klein-
Paste, email:
alex.klein-paste@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the
recruitment process, please contact Senior Executive Officer HR Hege Johansen,
e-mail:
hege.johansen@ntnu.no
Please submit your application electronically via
jobbnorge.no with your CV,
diplomas and certificates. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be
considered. Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master
Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide
confirmation of Master Diploma from
China Credentials Verification (CHSI).
If you are invited for interview you must include certified copies of transcripts and
reference letters. Please refer to the application number IV-195/21 when
applying.
Application deadline: 15.08.2021
Apply now