Engineering, Art & Tech

PhD Fellowship Advert: FLYgene Project

Published

3 years ago

on

March 29, 2022

By

Harriet Musinguzi

A student (left) showcases their innovation during the 9th Annual CEDAT Open Day held 28th-29th February 2020, Makerere University.

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We are seeking to appoint a full-time PhD Fellow to undertake research in a new project on Sustainable and efficient insect production for livestock feed through selective breeding (FLYgene). The PhD fellowship will focus on developing an Internet-of-Things (IoT) based platform for large scale identification and phenotyping of the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) in managed breeding sites within Kenya and Uganda. The PhD position will be primarily based at Makerere University (MAK), Uganda, with at least 1 year mandatory stay at Aarhus University (AU), Denmark. The proposed work hypothesizes that it is possible to develop efficient and affordable sensor-based methods, including computer-vision, to identify BSF at family level, and record phenotypes (focusing on traits such as growth rate, protein content and fitness) for selective breeding. Methods and tools combining mechanics, electronics, computer vision systems with illumination at different spectral wavelengths of light, and machine learning for automated recognition will be investigated. Initial experiments will be done at AU in Denmark and validated at MAK. Validated methods will be implemented to generate the phenotypic data at MAK and University of Nairobi (UoN).

The PI is supported with funding from DANIDA. The PI will support the successful PhD Fellow for 3 years. Funds will cover: MAK PhD tuition for 3 years, monthly stipend as per MAK rates, research supplies, conference attendance and other research-related costs such as a visit to collaborators’ laboratories.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Closing date: Friday 15th April 2022 at 23:59 EAT. Expected start date: 1st May 2022, or as soon as possible afterward.

Please see below for full advert.

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