AGBS - Postdoctoral position in High Throughput Phenotyping and Plant Stress Resistance

AGBS - Postdoctoral position in High Throughput Phenotyping and Plant Stress Resistance

Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is an institution oriented towards applied research and innovation with a focus on Africa.

Position Announcement - Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), College of Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Science (CSAES), AgroBioSciences program (AgBS)

Job Title – Post-Doctoral Fellow in bioinformatics data analysis and mining

Duration: 3 years

Keywords: Computer science, Bioinformatics, Data science, Big Data, Machine learning, Deep learning

About UM6P: Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) is an international higher education institution, established to provide research and innovation at the service of education and development for Morocco and the African continent.

About the College of Agriculture and Environmental Science (CAES) and AgroBiosciences Program (AgBS) at UM6P: The College of Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Science (CSAES) is a component of the Science & Technology pole of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P). It constitutes a structure of higher education and practical-based research with a vision of solving real African agriculture challenges leveraging up to date science and technology.

About the PHENO-MA Platform: The PHENO-MA is an innovative research platform for high-throughput plant phenotyping built and established at the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Benguerir – Morocco. It can be used to assess plant responses to nutrient deficiency, drought, high temperature, pests, and diseases.

We are seeking applications for a Post-Doctoral Fellow in bioinformatics data analysis and mining to support the implementation and the improvement of PHENO-MA phenotyping platform. The successful candidate will be responsible for working with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and engineers to design and develop data-driven and AI-driven solutions to help farmers improve crop yield. Good English communication skills; both verbal and written are required.

Main responsibilities:

1. Work closely with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and engineers to develop and implement Data-driven and AI-driven solutions based on the collected data from the PHENO-MA plant phenotyping platform.
2. Provide dedicated application support to projects through benchmarking, code optimization, or code portability.
3. Collect and analyze data from various sources to develop predictive models and decision support tools.
4. Perform cutting edge research tasks in deep learning-based crop yield prediction and plant growth prediction.
5. Contribute to the development and implementation of a data management and quality control infrastructure.
6. Develop and implement data visualization tools to help users understand and interpret the data.
7. Conduct research on the latest deep learning techniques in the context of the PHENO-MA project.
8. Continuously evaluate the latest packages and frameworks in the ML ecosystem.
9. Drive clarity and solve ambiguous business problems using data-driven & AI-driven approaches.

Required qualifications:

1. PhD degree in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Machine Learning, or equivalent degree.
2. Advanced Know-How in Data engineering, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning.
3. Experience in a research environment with a good track record.
4. High proficiency in Python and SQL, and ML/DL frameworks such as Tensorflow and PyTorch.
5. Experience with exploratory data analysis, statistical analysis, and model development.
6. Understanding and implementation of project management best practices.
7. Experience with Agile software development.
8. Good English communication skills.
9. Intellectual curiosity and excellent problem-solving skills.

Preferred qualifications:

1. Prior exposure to MLOps/DataOps processes.
2. Academic experience in crop improvement, plant phenotyping, or related fields.
3. Experience with deep multimodal learning and advanced computer vision models.
4. Experience with software REST API design.
5. Prior exposure to containerization and DevOps methodology.

Employment terms: The successful candidate will be employed on a competitive salary by Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) based in Benguerir, Morocco.

Applications and selection procedure: Applications must be sent using a single electronic zipped folder with the mention of the job title in the email subject. The folder must contain:

1. Cover letter indicating the position applied for and the main research interests.
2. Detailed CV.
3. Contact information of 3 references.

Applications are to be submitted directly on the hiring platform.