The University of Eastern Finland is inviting applications for three Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) positions in the field of Development of Data Science and AI for Spatial Data at the School of Computing on the Kuopio campus. The positions will be filled for a fixed term of three years as from 1 February 2027 (or as agreed).
Please find more information below and submit your application by 17 November 2026.
Role and salary
The demand for minerals required for energy transition and digitalisation is expanding mining faster than our ability to understand its impacts. MINE-THE-GAP (website), funded by the European Research Council (ERC), combines satellite imagery, mining data reports, and AI to map mining activities and their impacts worldwide and provide the information needed for more transparent and sustainable mining. We are seeking three motivated Doctoral Researchers (PhD Students) to join the project, each leading their own thesis on mapping different aspects of mining. As part of the MINE-THE-GAP team, you will, as a Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student), have the opportunity to apply your data science and programming skills to a global sustainability challenge and to become an expert in handling large Earth observation datasets and scalable AI.
We offer three Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) positions in a research group with strong international visibility. You will receive hands-on training in the processing of large Earth observation and spatial datasets, as well as in scalable AI methods, developing highly sought-after skills for careers in academia, industry, government, and non-governmental organizations. The position provides opportunities for international collaboration and research visits abroad through an extensive network of partner institutions, including the German Aerospace Center (DLR), GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Monash University Indonesia, and the University of Melbourne. You will benefit from close supervision, mentoring, and a supportive team environment, along with dedicated funding for conference participation, workshops, and scientific publications.
One Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) will be recruited for each of the following three research topics:
- mining land use: semantic segmentation of satellite images to map mining areas (e.g., open pits, waste rock piles, tailings dams)
- mining waste: predicting terrain height changes from radar and optical satellite image time series to estimate mining waste
- minerals and commodities: image classification with multispectral and hyperspectral data to identify the minerals and commodities of mining sites.
Within your chosen research topic, you will build, train, and validate scalable deep learning and computer vision models using large, multi-modal Earth observation data (e.g., Sentinel-1 radar, Sentinel-2 multispectral, LiDAR, hyperspectral). You will work closely with the principal investigator, Victor Maus, postdoctoral researchers, and international collaborators, publish your results in international journals, present them at conferences, and contribute to open science.
Your main duty as a Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) is to conduct research for the doctoral dissertation and to complete postgraduate studies.
The positions will be filled for a fixed term of three years as from 1 February 2027 (or as agreed). The positions will be filled for a fixed term due to the Doctoral Researcher's (PhD Student's) own doctoral dissertation work and studies. A trial period is applied to all new members of the staff.
The salary of the position is determined in accordance with the salary system for Finnish universities. The salary comprises two components: a job-related salary element and a personal salary element. For a Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student), the job-related salary element is based on levels 2–4 of the job requirement level chart for teaching and research staff depending on the stage of the applicant's doctoral research and postgraduate studies. The personal salary element is 6–50% of the job-related salary element. At the beginning of the employment, the total salary will be approximately EUR 2,710–2,845 /month.
Our requirements and expectations
We require you to
- be eligible for postgraduate studies; i.e., to hold a Master's degree in a quantitative field (e.g., Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Geoinformatics, Statistics, or a related field) awarded by a university or by a university of applied sciences, or to have completed an applicable study programme abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for corresponding postgraduate education
- meet the student admission criteria for the LUMETO doctoral programme (Doctoral Programme in Science, Forestry and Technology, website)
- have a good command of written and spoken English.
Students in the final stages of their Master's degree may also apply provided that they complete their degree and deliver a copy of their degree certificate to the faculty by 15 December 2026.
Applicants who do not yet have the right to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Eastern Finland are not required to apply for study rights at the application stage. If the applicant is selected for the position and applies for postgraduate study rights, the selection will be conditional until the right to pursue postgraduate studies in the faculty's doctoral programme has been granted. The application for postgraduate study rights is submitted through the Studyinfo (Opintopolku) service.
Other requirements
- good programming skills (e.g., Python/R)
- interest in machine learning and spatial data.
The following will be considered an advantage
- experience with machine learning or deep learning (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn) or strong motivation to learn these skills
- experience with Earth observation or geospatial data, desirable, but we encourage anyone with a strong willingness to learn to apply
- experience with cloud computing or collaborative software development (e.g., GitHub) is also welcome.
Your benefits
You will have access to the university's staff benefits, including
- the opportunity for flexible multi-location work
- excellent opportunities for professional development and continuous learning
- extensive occupational health care
- a broad selection of staff training
- staff discount on lunch in our campus restaurants, as well as on a range of other services
- affordable sports services.
Please read more in the Work at UEF section on our website.
You will have an opportunity to work in meaningful as part of our international, creative, participatory and inclusive academic community.
Enjoy your life in Finland! Known for its cleanliness, welfare know-how, modern technology and superb education system, Finland is an exotic and safe country to work in. Please visit the Life in Finland section on our website to learn more.
How to apply?
Submit your application by using our electronic application form no later than 17 November 2026 by 23:59 (midnight) Finnish time (UTC+2).
Please note that you must include the following appendices in your application
- CV (Template for CV, TENK web page)
- a list of publications (Instructions, Research Council of Finland Web page)
- copies of your academic degree certificates / diplomas, and copies of certificates / diplomas relating to your language proficiency, if not indicated in the academic degree certificates/diplomas
- a transcript of records
- a motivation letter (max. 1 page) describing your interest in the position and research project, your background, as well as your career aspirations and your motivation for engaging in doctoral-level research. In the cover letter, indicate your preferred topic(s), for example, by ranking the topics in order of preference or specifying whether you are applying for one or multiple topics.
External evaluation will be used in the recruitment process.
If your degree certificate is not in English, Finnish, or Swedish, you must provide official English translations of your degree certificate documents. All translations must be issued by the awarding educational institution or an authorized translator. Each page of the official translation must bear the translator's stamp and/or signature. Official translations must be accurate translations of the original documents. Translations made by the applicants themselves will not be accepted.
Questions?
For further information on the position, please contact Professor Markku Tukiainen, email: markku.tukiainen@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 445 3653.
For further information on the application procedure, please contact HR Specialist Iiris Korhonen, email: iiris.korhonen@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 4458161 or HR Specialist Noora Hämäläinen, email: noora.hamalainen@uef.fi, tel. +358 29 4458302.