PhD Candidate in Simulation-based engineering for Fish Processing Systems

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About the position

We are offering a fully funded PhD position as part of a research project between NTNU and leading industrial partners. The candidate will contribute to the development of a simulation environment for modeling and testing fish processing factories. The goal is to improve the design, efficiency, and reliability of fish processing lines by simulating realistic behavior of soft, flexible fish—such as cod and haddock—interacting with fish processing equipment.

The research will utilize NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Omniverse technologies to create and validate high-fidelity digital fish models for use in simulation test environments. This work will support industrial design processes, reduce reliance on physical prototyping, and enable faster deployment of fish processing systems at sea.

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 to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia. There are excellent employment opportunities in the industry upon completion of the PhD. 

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

About the project

Designing fish production lines relies heavily on human experience, iterative testing, and the use of dead fish for testing physical prototypes of fish processing lines. This traditional approach often leads to long development times, high costs, and not expected performance. Typically, it takes up to 36 months for a new line to reach 100% operational efficiency, with initial functionality as low as 85-90%. A key challenge lies in the biological variability of fish and the limited opportunities for testing while factories are in operation. Therefor there is an urgent need to develop tools that can simulate the realistic behavior of soft, flexible, variably sized fish interacting with machines and with each other.

The project's main goal is to build a digital simulation environment that supports industrial design, testing, and optimization of automated fish production lines. Expected benefits from the project include reduction in time and cost during the design, installation, and commissioning phases; faster innovation cycles and reduced dependency on physical testing; improved collaboration between shipowners, operators, and equipment suppliers; a safer, more reliable system with reduced downtime and risk at sea.

The simulation environment will be expandable to multiple fish species and production systems. It may also serve as a training tool, quality control aid, and driver for increased use of data-driven decision-making in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled PhD candidate to join our multidisciplinary research team. The PhD candidate will play a central role in advancing the development of simulation environments—specifically NVIDIA Isaac Sim—for modeling and simulation of soft fish bodies and their interactions within production line equipment. The project emphasizes the development of photorealistic, behaviorally accurate digital fish to be used for testing, verification, and training applications.

Research Objectives

The PhD candidate will focus on the following core objectives:

• Develop high-fidelity, physics-based digital models of fish species that simulate realistic deformation, motion, and interaction behavior.
• Explore how simulation outputs can be used to generate synthetic datasets for machine learning and AI applications in fish processing.
• Validate simulation outputs against real-world data, including sensor data from physical “sensor fish” developed by NTNU.
• Contribute to the development of a general-purpose simulation environment for industrial applications.

Duties of the position

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 working on the project
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must have an academically relevant background within Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, or a related field. 
• You must have a Master's degree (M.Sc.) in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, or a related field.
• Your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master's level. Master's students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position. and no later than august 2025. 
• 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.

Preferred selection criteria

• Strong programming skills, preferably in Python and C++.
• Experience or coursework in simulation technologies, robotics, computer graphics, or biomechanics.
• Strong communication skills (written and oral) in English.
• Interest in applied research with industrial relevance.
• Familiarity with physics engines or simulation tools such as NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Omniverse, Unity, or Unreal Engine is highly desirable.
• Interest in soft-body dynamics, digital twins, and virtual testing.
• Good oral and written presentation skills in Norwegian/Scandinavian 
  
   

Personal characteristics

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

• Work independently
• Work in a structured way, set goals and make plans to achieve them
• Present and discuss your research with other professionals
• Get involved and contribute constructively with feedback
• Work constructively under pressure or in the face of adversity 
• Show curiosity and a strong motivation for the subject
• Analyze data, assess different perspectives and draw well-founded conclusions 
• Be flexible and open to adjusting the plan for the project as needed

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

We offer

• 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
• Working capital that can be used to implement the project
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• As a public employee, you have favourable benefits as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK)

You will be employed as a PhD Candidate at NTNU and will have access to employee benefits and discounts. 

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.

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK  541 800,-  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 employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in [subject area] (link to possible website) 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 academic 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 Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or 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 The application must include: 

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees
• CV 
• Copy of Master's thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Project outline containing proposals for an overall description of research questions, theoretical perspectives, methodological design for the project and progress plan (maximum 1500 words/4 pages) 
• Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page)
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work
• Possibly certificates
• Names and contact information of three relevant referees

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 works 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 Irina-Emily Hansen, irina-emily.hansen@ntnu.no" rel="nofollow">irina-emily.hansen@ntnu.no 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Lara Bromann - Lara.bromann@ntnu.no 

 

Application deadline: 13.06.2025Candidates may be considered before the application deadline. 

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

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