Applicants are invited for a double degree PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Electrical and Computer Engineering programme. The position is available from 01 September 2026 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

The position is part of the MSCA project GreenFieldData - IoRT Data management and analysis for Sustainable Agriculture, ID: 101226371, Call: HORIZON-MSCA-2024-DN-01. Link to the portal of the project https://www.eu4greenfielddata.eu/ 

Note this is a double degree project. Therefore, the employment will be at INRAE, Clermont Ferrand, France, but at least one year must be spent at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Title:
Optimization-simulation coupling for the GHG emission-based supervision and planification of a fleet of autonomous agricultural robots

Research area and project description:
Optimization-simulation coupling is a cutting-edge technology that has revolutionized the supervision of robotic fleets for precision farming. By integrating optimization algorithms with simulation models, farmers can efficiently manage and control robotic fleets to maximize productivity and minimize costs. This innovative approach allows farmers to dynamically adjust fleet operations based on real-time data, resulting in improved decision-making and higher yields. With optimization-simulation coupling, farmers can achieve greater precision, efficiency, and sustainability in their farming practices, leading to a more profitable and environmentally friendly operation. The optimization-simulation coupling generally makes it possible to obtain realistic planning where optimization alone would provide solutions that are far too theoretical and not robust in terms of dynamically occurring events. However, the associated calculation times are often incompatible with real-time supervision.

This PhD aim at advancing a fleet of autonomous robots for arable farming. Work is underway to enable the management and supervision of a fleet at the scale of a site (i.e. a farm). This PhD proposes to set up a sharing of robots in an agricultural equipment-sharing cooperative. It will then be a question of managing a fleet of robots which will be maintained (maintenance, repairs...), configured (installation, change, of tools for agricultural tasks), and stored in a warehouse, before being deployed to work on several sites. The deployment will transport the robots to a site where the local supervisor will take control of the robot. The central supervisor must be informed of the task progress of the robots, and of any hazard, or additional request from a site, which would call into question the provisional planning of resources. It will therefore be a question of proposing optimization and simulation models to respond to the problems raised, and of studying different coupling approaches integrating a human to allow realistic decision-making in real-time. The success of the different coupling approaches will be measured by considering metrics like planning efficiency, decision-making speed, and adaptability to unforeseen events, etc. Specific objectives include:

1) Propose coupled optimization and simulation models for robotic fleet deployment in a cooperative farm using intercropping of legumes and mechanized agricultural practices, with new coupling methods for these models supported by assessment of GHG emission.

2) Provide methods for robot deployment considering scheduling and managing robot maintenance, configuration, storage, and deployment across multiple farms and adapting to unexpected events (breakdowns, weather) during robot operations. This objective will benefit of the previous and ongoing work of INRAE that has been developed a first architecture for robot’s data storage using a data lake approach.

3) Provide a visual interface for ergonomic end-users’ real-time interactions.

4) Provide prescriptive methods for rescheduling actions based on historical data. This objective will benefit of the previous and ongoing work of INRAE that has been developed a first simple visual interface for robots’ data alerts.

Salary, holiday payment, pension contributions and the like include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. Thus, figures are before taxes are paid, and taxes may differ depending on individual circumstances. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement, and salary is depending on seniority. Salary includes a non-pensionable PhD supplement. The allowances mentioned in the EU work programme (living allowance, mobility allowance and, if applicable, family allowance) will be part of the salary. Allowance rates can be found in the relevant EU Work Programme (under MSCA doctoral network - Applicable unit contributions), and country correction coefficient can be found in the same document.

Project description: For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants to the PhD position must have a master’s degree in computer science (120 ECTS).
General Criteria:

• MSCA Mobility Rule: researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their date of recruitment
• All researchers recruited in a DN must be doctoral candidates (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment)
• An applicant must have received the equivalent of 300 ECTS with a major in computer science, from which at least 60 ECTS corresponds to a master’s degree. The master’s degree must be granted by a university recognized by the International Association of Universities.
• Scientific excellence to fit the PhD project
• Fluent (oral and written) English skills as the project operates in English language
• Knowledge of the language of the host country may be considered a merit
• Team-mindedness

Required skills:

• Advanced databases and programming skills
• Advanced operations research skills (optimization, graph theory, logistic models)
• Interdisciplinary work

Place of employment and place of work:

Note that this is a double degree PhD project.

The place of employment is TSCF, Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Clermont Ferrand, France. The place of work at Aarhus University is Bldg. 8210, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, AU Viborg, Denmark. Note that at least one year must be spent at Aarhus University.

EU eligibility requirements in Marie Curie Doctoral Networks:

• Supported researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis, but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible.
• Researchers supported must be enrolled in a doctoral programme leading to the award of a doctoral degree in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, and for Joint Doctorates in at least two.
• Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.
• Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays and time spent by the researcher as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention75 are not considered.
• Secondments are eligible for up to one third of the actual months spent implementing the research training activities under the action.
• In case of industrial doctorates, doctoral candidates must spend at least 50% of their fellowship duration in the non-academic sector.’

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Sandro Bimonte, sandro.bimonte@inrae.fr (INRAE supervisor)
• Claus Aage Grøn Sørensen, claus.soerensen@ece.au.dk (AU supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 15 April 2026 at 23:59 CEST

Preferred starting date is 01 September 2026.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be considered.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.