PhD Opportunity: Physics-Informed AI & Satellite Remote Sensing for Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Are you looking for a fully funded international PhD with a dual-degree international cotutelle in Earth Observation, Hydrology, and Machine Learning?

We are seeking a talented and motivated PhD candidate to join our research team within the TERRAMED Interregional Doctoral Program (Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND).

• PhD Thesis Proposal: Leveraging remote sensing data, physical models and machine learning approaches to provide irrigation recommendations in a Mediterranean context (Code: URL3)
• Doctoral Program: TERRAMED Interregional Doctoral Program (Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND)
• Supervisors: Dr. Pere Quintana-Seguí (Ebro Observatory – Ramon Llull University, Spain) and Dr. Olivier Merlin (CESBIO – Université de Toulouse / CNRS, France)
• Host Institutions (Dual Degree / Cotutelle):
  • 24 months at Ebro Observatory – Ramon Llull University (Roquetes / Catalonia, Spain)
  • 9 months at CESBIO – University of Toulouse (Toulouse, France)
• Industrial Secondment: 3 months at isardSAT (Barcelona, Spain)
• Contract & Remuneration: 36-month full-time employment contract (~€2,600/month gross, MSCA standards, including full social security coverage)
• Expected Start Date: Spring 2027 (approx. April 2027)
• Application Deadline: December 31, 2026 (23:59 CET)

Agriculture in the Mediterranean basin is under acute pressure from escalating droughts, heatwaves, and water scarcity driven by climate change. Ensuring food security and regional economic stability requires innovative, climate-resilient water management solutions.

This doctoral research will contribute to the frontline of agricultural climate adaptation by:

• Multi-sensor Earth Observation: Combining multi-sensor satellite Earth Observation (optical, radar, thermal) with in-situ agro-hydrological data.
• Physics-Informed Machine Learning: Bridging classical process-based land-surface and hydrological modeling with cutting-edge Machine Learning and Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) to infer high-resolution root-zone soil moisture and crop water needs.
• Decision Support System (DSS): Developing an operational Decision Support System capable of providing probabilistic soil moisture and irrigation forecasts to support farming communities and water management agencies in Catalonia (Spain) and Occitanie (France).

We are looking for candidates holding a Master’s degree (or equivalent qualification giving access to doctoral studies, completed before recruitment) in one of the following or related fields:

• Remote Sensing / Earth Observation / GIS
• Hydrology / Water Resources Engineering
• Environmental or Agricultural Engineering
• Data Science / Computer Science / Artificial Intelligence
• Physics / Meteorology / Applied Mathematics

Applications must be submitted formally through the official TERRAMED application platform:

• 👉 TERRAMED Portal (Application & Guidelines): https://terra-med.euroregio.eu/how-to-apply
• 👉 EURAXESS Job Notice: EURAXESS Job Notice (Offer ID: 468049)

Important: The call closes on December 31, 2026. Please review all application guidelines on the official portal carefully.

For questions regarding the scientific scope of the project or informal inquiries about the position, please feel free to get in touch via my contact page.

(Please note that formal applications must be submitted via the TERRAMED application portal.)