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The Department of Applied Physics and Electronics at Umeå University is offering a postdoctoral scholarship within optical metrology linked to machine learning. The postdoctoral scholarship is full-time 6 months, beginning on October 15 , 2025, or as agreed upon. The application deadline is September 17, 2025.
Project description
This project involves the use of optical metrology techniques to detect early signs of decay in fruits. Traditional methods for assessing food quality are often destructive and incapable of identifying deterioration at its early stages. If left unnoticed, early fruit decay can spread to healthy fruits and potentially cause entire batches to rot during storage or transport.
As a result, there is a strong demand within the food industry for the development of non-destructive technologies for early detection of decay. The proposed project, which focuses on fast, automatic, and non-destructive detection and classification of fruit rot, is crucial for reducing production costs, improving quality standards, and ensuring the sustainability and safety of agricultural products.
The project is a national and international collaboration between Umeå University, Luleå University of Technology, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the University of Nottingham (UK), and Siemens Energy. Therefore, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop independent research ideas within the scope of the project.
The scholarship is funded by the Kempe Foundations and is a full-time position for six months, with a monthly scholarship of SEK 28,000.
Qualifications
To qualify as a postdoctoral scholarship holder, the candidate is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirements must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the decision about scholarship recipient.
Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree before that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.
Doctoral degree should be in electrical, optical, mechanical, or medical engineering, engineering physics, or another closely related area deemed directly relevant to the subject.
Fluency in English, both in oral and written forms, is mandatory.
Furthermore, fundamental knowledge is required in the principles of optics, imaging systems, digital holography, speckle metrology, Matlab and simulations, signal processing, the Fourier transform, machine learning, and classifiers such as SVM.
Meriting qualifications include one or more of the following:
- High competence in research, including publications in scientific journals and international conferences
- A strong ability to collaborate effectively with others to develop new scientific understanding
We are looking for a candidate who is motivated, goal-oriented, capable of critical thinking, able to handle constructive feedback positively, and demonstrates good collaboration skills within a research team.
Application
A complete application should include:
- A cover letter summarizing your qualifications, your scientific interests, your motives for applying, and how you feel you meet the essential and meriting criteria (max 2 pages);
- Curriculum vitae (CV) with publication list;
- Copy of doctoral degree certificate or documentation that clarifies when the degree of doctor is expected to be obtained;
- Copy of doctoral thesis (PDF or a download link);
- Copies of other diplomas (master and bachelor studies);
- A list of university courses with grades (transcripts). Note that for international applicants the grading system should be explained in brief;
- Contact information of at least two reference persons;
- (optional) Other documents that the applicant wishes to supply.
The application, including attached documents, must be written in English or Swedish. Documents sent electronically must be in PDF format. The application is made through our electronic recruitment system Varbi. The application closing date is 17 September, 2025. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis.
Further information
For more information, please contact Davood Khodadad (Davood.Khodadad@umu.se ) and Britt Andersson (head of department) (britt.andersson@umu.se ).
We look forward to receiving your application!
Anställningsform: scholarship | Anställningens omfattning: heltid | Antal lediga befattningar: 1 | Sysselsättningsgrad: 100 | Ort: Umeå | Län: Västerbottens län | Land: Sweden | Referensnummer: FS 2.1.6-1591-25 | Kontakt: Britt Andersson 090-7869638, Britt Andersson 090-7869638, Davood Khodadad 072-5131430, Davood Khodadad 072-5131430, | Publicerat: 2025-08-26 | Sista ansökningsdag: 2025-09-17