Do you know and care about the environment and interculturality? Then come and join our teams!

UMR AMAP is a research unit pioneering innovative approaches that combine plant ecology and digital technology. CIRAD is recruiting an engineer for this lab to develop algorithms for processing 3D point clouds, in order to study and quantify the architectural plasticity of woody plants in tropical forest and agroforestry stands.

One of the laboratory’s primary challenges is to apply plant architectural analysis at plant community scale, by exploiting massive data from field sensors (terrestrial or aerial LiDAR, photogrammetry, digitisers, etc.). You will use this data to build digital solutions based on professional concepts and knowledge, to infer the architectural and/or functional traits of a large number of individuals and/or species in forest or agroforestry stands. You will interact with botanists, agronomists and modellers to:
- Enable automated or semi-automated extraction of structural and functional traits from individual plants using geometric 3D reconstruction formalisms or implicit formalisms based on voxelisation.
- Extract, from forest communities (either natural or in agroecological systems), indicators and sizes characterising the structure of the vegetation and/or the biomass distribution by type of organ (wood/leaf etc.)
- Develop innovative approaches based on the physics and geometry of the sensors, that make the very best use of the data acquired and their specific features and qualities, to extract biophysical parameters (transmittance, leaf angles, etc.)
Your developments will interact with existing knowledge and tools, specifically on interface and data assimilation with plant growth (e.g. Functional-Structural Plant Model) or stand dynamics (e.g. Individual-Based Models) simulators. You are committed to the operability, maintenance, documentation and distribution of your developments, as also to their frugality, from design to operation.

Together with your colleagues from the lab and the MaCS4Plants network (https://macs4plants.cirad.fr/), you will help fund your research activities by taking part in (and/or coordinating) research projects and expert assessments.

 
You will develop R&D projects with the unit’s research groups (ARCHI, FSPM, TETROFOR, BIAS themes, MaCS4plants network and their partners) in compliance with the rules and best practices of AMAP’s Computing Science Group (POLIS), to which you will be a member.
You will communicate your work through academic or technical publications.

You will train students and partners from the Global North and South in using the tools and protocols developed as part of the unit’s priority projects on the forest-agroforest continuum in Central Africa, South America, Asia and the Pacific.

Montpellier Possible relocation to Global South or French overseas territories

You hold a doctorate or engineering degree from an elite institution such as Conférence des Grandes Ecoles in France (or foreign equivalent) in the field of applied mathematics or applied computer science.

You have a sound knowledge of applied mathematics, particularly in a number of the following areas:
- Structuring and processing 3D point clouds sets
- Spatial geometries (including discrete geometries, projective geometries and Riemannian varieties), spatial tessellations
- Differential geometry (reverse engineering)
- Signal and image processing, sensor simulation
- Geometric modelling (3D), representation and visualisation
- Implementation of AI approaches: convolution networks, self-supervised learning, remanent neural networks, semantic networks
- LiDAR data management, massive data, multi-source and multi-scale data fusion


You have experience and expertise in programming and shared development environments:
- Languages: Python, C++, others (Julia will be a plus)
- Dedicated environments: Matlab, RStudio, QGis, …
- Good software practices (Github, documentation, continuous integration and continuous delivery/continuous deployment, benches, etc.), knowledge of digital law (licences)

Experience in imaging, image synthesis and/or signal processing is a plus.

You have good skills of scientific and technical communication and are comfortable writing and speaking in English. You have experience in scientific publishing.

You share CIRAD’s values and priorities, and support open science for the benefit of all, especially those in the Global South.

You are curious, open-minded and keenly interested in applying formal science to the living world.
You enjoy teamwork and working in a multidisciplinary environment.

You are keen to work with partners in the Global South and to work abroad (mainly assignments and opportunities for relocation)


You are commited to honor your engagements and communicate on your actions and achievements. You are able to be proactive and innovative whilst remaining within the framework of collective priorities.

You will enjoy being involved in teams within the Unit and CIRAD in general.

Please include in your CV references from previous managers we can contact regarding previously held positions.

Your benefits: You will receive a 13th month’s salary, plus, if you are working abroad, specific allowances depending on your location and family circumstances. You’ll also have comprehensive social insurance cover, regardless of your location.