Postdoctoral Research Associate: AI, Spectroscopy, and Data Science for Agricultural, Food, and Sustainable Systems
The SAGE Lab is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to join our growing interdisciplinary research program at the University of Minnesota.
We are particularly interested in candidates with a strong background in spectroscopy, sensing, chemometrics, data analysis, or machine learning who are interested in applying these skills to agricultural, food, biological, environmental, and materials systems.
The postdoctoral researcher will have considerable flexibility to help shape new research directions within the lab.
Potential Research Areas
Projects may involve:
- NIR, MIR, FTIR, Raman, or hyperspectral spectroscopy
- Hyperspectral and multispectral imaging
- Spectral preprocessing and chemometrics
- AI/ML for spectroscopic and sensor data
- Food contamination, quality, and safety monitoring
- AI-enabled food processing and storage
- Crop and plant sensing
- Precision irrigation and nutrient management
- Biomass characterization and bioenergy
- Waste-stream characterization and automated sorting
- Circular-economy applications
- Materials informatics
- Multimodal sensing and sensor fusion
- Real-time AI and sensing systems
- Uncertainty-aware and trustworthy machine learning
- Data-driven process optimization
The candidate is not expected to have experience in all of these areas.
We value individuals who have a strong technical foundation, are intellectually curious, and are willing to learn new experimental and computational methods.
What We Are Looking For
The ideal candidate should have a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering, Biological/Biosystems Engineering, Food Science or Food Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical or Computer Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, Data Science, Computer Science, or a closely related discipline.
Candidates should ideally have experience in one or more of the following:
- Spectroscopy or hyperspectral imaging
- Chemometrics and spectral data analysis
- Machine learning or deep learning
- Scientific programming using Python, MATLAB, R, or related tools
- Agricultural or food systems
- Biomass, bioenergy, or biological materials
- Computer vision or image analysis
- Multimodal sensing
- Experimental data collection and analysis
Most importantly, we are looking for someone who is curious, collaborative, willing to learn, and interested in contributing ideas rather than simply carrying out predefined tasks.
Responsibilities
The postdoctoral researcher will:
- Lead interdisciplinary research projects
- Design experiments and analyze sensing and spectroscopic data
- Develop machine-learning and data-science methodologies
- Prepare peer-reviewed journal publications
- Present research at conferences and professional meetings
- Mentor undergraduate and graduate students
- Collaborate with researchers across disciplines
- Help develop new research directions within the lab
- Contribute substantially to research proposal development
An important part of this position will be working closely with Dr. Dhal on proposal development and research-program building. This may include identifying funding opportunities, conducting literature reviews, developing research objectives and methodologies, generating preliminary results, preparing figures, and contributing to proposal writing.
Why Join the SAGE Lab?
This position is intended to provide training not only in research, but also in the broader skills required for an independent scientific career.
The postdoctoral researcher will have opportunities to gain experience in:
- Independent research leadership
- Proposal and grant writing
- Scientific publishing
- Student mentoring
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Development of new research projects
- Academic–industry collaborations
- Translation of research into practical technologies
- Building a research program from its early stages
Candidates interested in future careers in academia, national laboratories, industry R&D, or interdisciplinary data-driven research are especially encouraged to apply.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should email the following materials:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Cover letter describing research interests and relevant experience
- Brief research statement
- Contact information for three professional references
- Up to three representative publications
Please describe your experience with spectroscopy/sensing, data analysis or machine learning, and any agricultural, food, biological, energy, or materials applications.
Candidates whose previous research does not exactly match all of the areas above are still encouraged to apply if they have a strong technical foundation and an interest in learning new research areas.
Contact:
Dr. Sambandh Dhal
Assistant Professor
Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
106 Kaufert Laboratory, St. Paul, MN
Email: dhal0009@umn.edu