PhD Candidate in maritime surveillance with GNSS reflectometry and on-board processing

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You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

   

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About the position

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work toward completing your doctoral degree while gaining valuable experience that qualifies you for a career in higher education and research, within and outside academia

We are looking for a creative, skilled, and ambitious candidate to contribute to our research on detecting objects at sea and identifying GNSS jamming and spoofing events using small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). The position is affiliated with the NTNU SmallSat Lab. 

Note that two closely related PhD positions, one at the Department of Electronic Systems, NTNU, and one at the Department of Engineering Cybernetics, will be announced separately.  

Your immediate leader will be the Head of the Circuit and Radio Systems group.

About the project

By analyzing the energy in signals originating from the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) when they are reflected from the Earth’s surface, we can deduce information about the area from which signals are reflecting from. For signals reflected off the ocean, it is possible to infer parameters such as wave height, sea‑ice coverage, and wind conditions. 

In this project, we aim to go a step further, and investigate whether these signals of opportunity can be used to detect objects such as ships. Activities carried out by so called “dark ships”, vessels operating without AIS transponders, may be associated with illegal fishing, trafficking, sabotage, and other undesirable actions. 

There are several systems in use to monitor global maritime traffic, each with different properties. Optical systems can provide excellent spatial resolution and detailed imagery, but only under cloudfree conditions. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can deliver highquality images regardless of cloud cover, but such systems are expensive. 

Our main research question is: How can small and relatively low-cost satellites with passive radio payloads exploit reflected signals of opportunity to improve maritime situational awareness? 

As a PhD candidate in this project, your work will focus on identifying which monitoring capabilities are feasible, how they can be implemented, and how the resulting information can be integrated into a broader situational awareness system.

Your research efforts will be directed toward mission design and constellation design for satellites equipped with GNSS R payloads. You will also contribute to the design of the payload , with particular emphasis on on board processing and the fusion of RF signals with additional supporting information—such as AIS data or optical imagery. The payload may also be used to detect GNSS jamming and spoofing events. 

The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council, under the project number 358864. The project has several industrial and governmental collaboration partners. As a PhD candidate, you will collaborate with others in the SmallSatellite Lab, in a team with other PhD candidates and researchers within related topics. 
 

Duties of the position

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate
• Carry out research of good quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Participate in the research group SmallSatLab.
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions
• Teaching duties at the department (depending on profile and need)
• Other career-promoting work, such as working on smaller related externally funded research projects.

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

The candidate will: Conduct research on the feasibility of GNSS-R and other signals of opportunity. Tasks will be literature reviews, simulations, data analysis from similar missions and/or data from project partners, and also conduct and analyse field experiments. Furthermore, the candidate will contribute to the design of a suitable GNSS-R payload, including RF architecture and on-board processing system. The candidate will contribute to research on suitable on-board (edge) processing techniques to analyse GNSS-R recordings for object detection and/or jamming/spoofing detection. 
 

Required selection criteria

• You must have a relevant Master's degree in electronics, cybernetics, RF communications, remote sensing/radar, signal processing or equivalent. Your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master's level. Master students in their final year can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than October 2026.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be considered 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 Programme .
• You must master English as a professional language, both written and orally.
• Knowledge about space systems and small satellites.
• Knowledge about (RF) remote sensing.
• Knowledge about analog and digital RF signal processing.
   

PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions and Regulations for the degrees philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) and philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) in artistic development work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)for general criteria for the position.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

The person hired must be eligible for security clearance at level KONFIDENSIELT/CONFIDENTIAL. If hold a non-Norwegian citizenship. You can see Section 8-7. “Clearance of persons holding foreign citizenship” of the Act relating to national security (Security Act).
 

Preferred selection criteria

• Good knowledge about remote sensing techniques from space
• Experience from satellite projects (development, operation, data analysis)
• Good experience and understanding of RF remote sensing or communication systems, including principles for RF processing, software-defined-radio and similar
• A solid background in programming and signal processing (C, Matlab, Python, …)
• Knowledge and experience with embedded systems are a strong plus (C, FPGA-accelerators)
• General ML knowledge can be a plus, and knowledge about about how ML can be used “on the edge” is a significant plus
• A desire to achieve good oral and written presentation skills in Norwegian/Scandinavian equivalent level of B2 according to the language levels. 
   

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• Being a team player, with a strong focus on the success of the group, and willing to work in a multi-disciplinary team, where professional level range from students to professors, and the will to learn from, and recognize skills from all team members Work independently.
• Show perseverance, “space is hard”.
• Be a good communicator and a strong desire to share, present and discuss your research with other professionals.
• Be an independent problem solver, and manage to adjust your path according to the progress and findings of the project. 
   

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

We offer

Evaluate and remove/add what is relevant for the position.

• An exciting job with an important mission in society
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• Favorable terms as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK)
• Free Norwegian language training at a basic level (A2)

As a PhD Candidate at NTNU, you will have access to employee benefits.

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population's collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality. 

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK 550 800,-per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years for the doctoral work in addition to up to 12 months/ 1 year of career promotion work that will be agreed when you start. 

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Electronics and Telecommunication, within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme throughout the period of employment.

The position is conditional on external funding.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to bein conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in English.

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates and diplomas upon request.

The application must include:

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees
• CV 
• Copy of Master's thesis, or a short summary of your thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. If you are currently working on your thesis, you can submit a short summary. Documentation of a completed Master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page), including a summary of how you would approach the research goals (800 words, 2 pages)
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work
• Possibly certificates
• Names and contact information of three relevant referees

Optional: Include a project outline containing your thoughts for an overall description of research questions, theoretical perspectives you would assess and methodological design for the project (maximum 1500 words/4 pages).
 

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. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well.

Joint work will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions, and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates.

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU's social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Senior Researcher Roger Birkeland, telephone 97708109, email roger.birkeland@ntnu.no. 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR e-mail:  hr@ies.ntnu.no

Application deadline: 15.04.2026

For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech 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.