Join the WildBotics Team
Do you want to collaborate with an international team of scientists to advance wildlife conservation practices?
We are inviting applications from 12 Doctoral Candidates to join the WildBotics – Autonomous Sampling with Robotics in the Wild for Nature Conservation Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network.
Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Horizon Europe, Grant Agreement No. 101227034), the WildBotics project aims to recruit 12 PhD candidates who will be employed by one of the 10 partner institutions across Europe.
The recruitment process is centralized and coordinated by Fondazione Bruno Kessler, the project’s lead organization.
The overarching aim of WildBotics is to advance the digital revolution of nature conservation by integrating robotics, computer science, and conservation ecology, with autonomous robots as a unifying platform. The Doctoral Candidates will form an interdisciplinary network of researchers working across European, develop new autonomous systems (innovation in robotics), enhance sensor and software capabilities (innovation in computer science), and combine these to enable large-scale automated sampling to complement vision-based data in complex field settings (innovation in ecology).
Each of the 12 candidates will conduct research based in one of the three main subject areas of WildBotics: (i) Robot system design for nature conservation, (ii) Autonomy, perception and AI for complex natural environments and (iii) Analysis of large, sample-based datasets for wildlife ecology & biodiversity conservation. The candidates will work together within the WildBotics network and engage in multi-disciplinary training-by-research to develop technology in close collaboration with end-users around the world.
The WildBotics consortium encompasses 11 beneficiaries and 7 Associate Partners across 11 countries in Europe and Africa united in the common goal of benefiting wildlife. The Doctoral Candidates will be spread throughout 7 European countries working in both academic institutions and industrial companies:
- Fondazione Bruno Kessler - FBK, Italy
- University of Southern Denmark - SDU, Denmark
- University of Bristol - UB, United Kingdom
- DMR - DMR, Denmark
- Ingeniarius - ING, Portugal
- University of Salamanca - USAL, Spain
- Delft University of Technology - TUD, Netherlands
- Aarhus University - AU, Denmark
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Wissenschaften Ev - MPG, Germany
- Konstanz University - UKON
- BioConsult - BIOC, Germany
In addition to these partners, the network includes Ol Pejeta wildlife reserve (Kenya), Wildlife Research and Training Institute (Kenya), Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Deep Forestry (Sweden), Museo delle Scienze (Italy), NIBIO research institute (Norway), Forests of the World (Denmark) and Belpark (Italy). They will all teamed up and support a coordinated effort on researcher training in digital nature conservation.
All candidates will be expected to:
- work in a multidisciplinary team and in an international environment;
- have a deep interest in research and science, being curious and proactive;
- possess outstanding research potential, as demonstrated by scientific accomplishments (e.g., quality of thesis, code repositories, conference presentations, outreach activities or publications);
- have excellent communication skills in English, verbally as well as in scientific writing;
- be willing to undertake international secondments, internships, and travels.
Please note that these expectations provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable expectations and duties may be required consistent with the specific PhD project itself.
Details about the network as a whole, its scientific content and the application and selection process, can be found on https://www.wildbotics.eu/
Additional information
We are searching for a diverse group of candidates with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisations and be offered the same career opportunities. We especially welcome applicants from populations that are disproportionately underrepresented in the research fields of aerial robotics, computer vision, or wildlife ecology, and related industries, including applicants from the African continent, where some research activities could take place. The only limit is the MSCN mobility rule, dependent on the country of the hosting institution - ‘No residence or main activity (work, studies etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months before their recruitment date’.
Each PhD position includes:
- A salary package comprising a living allowance (€3,400*), a mobility allowance (€600), and, where applicable, a family allowance (€600).
- Additional allowances are available when relevant, including a long-term leave allowance (€4,000) and a special needs allowance.
- Flexible working hours can be arranged to ensure an optimal work-life balance.
The guaranteed PhD funding is for 36 months (although additional funding is possible, depending on the local Supervisor, and in accordance with the PhD rules in the country of execution). In addition to their individual scientific projects, all CD fellows will benefit from further continuing education, which includes internships and secondments, a variety of training modules as well as transferable skills acquired through a unique immersive learning environment.
*:
A country correction coefficient applies to the living allowance in order to ensure equal treatment and purchasing power parity for all researchers. Salary rules apply to the doctoral candidates hosted in the European Union as reported here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/horizon/wp-call/2021-2022/wp-2-msca-actions_horizon-2021-2022_en.pdf
Do you want to apply?
You can submit your application by completing the online form (link) up to and including 7th January 2026.
Please visit https://www.wildbotics.eu/recruitment for specific information about the application procedure, requirements for each position, and information about each hosting partner and PhD topic (https://www.wildbotics.eu/network).
Please make sure that your application contains the following attachments (in pdf format):
- Motivated two-page application letter: one page general motivation for WildBotics and one page motivating your interest in specific DC projects (at most 3).
- Detailed Curriculum Vitae (including contact information to 2-3 references and list of publications if relevant).
- Certificates / Diplomas (MSc).
- Scientific writing sample (e.g. publication or thesis chapter).
The recruitment procedure will be divided into 2 stages. In the first stage, recruitment committees for each subject area will evaluate candidate qualifications based on the application materials. All candidates will be informed whether they advance to stage 2. Project supervisors will evaluate the remaining candidates for their project, and the top candidates for each DC project will be invited for online interviews. References for the top candidates will be contacted at this stage. Interviews are tentatively expected to be held in early February, 2026.
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