Vacant job

Welcome to Linnaeus University! Here you meet 2,200 employees and 40,000 students who together follow the vision of putting knowledge into motion for sustainable societal development. At our university, research and education are conducted with a view towards the future. Our proximity to the business community, both locally and globally, gives us long reach and the opportunity for change that leaves a mark. All that is needed is a place where ideas are given space to meet and grow. That is what we have created – and you are invited. Change starts here!

The Faculty of Technology has a broad operation spanning eight different departments through which Linnaeus University provides education and conducts research. The engineering programs range from short courses lasting a few weeks or months to five-year Master of Science in Engineering degrees. The research responds to societal needs in several broad fields – both in the short and long term – with basic and applied research in collaboration with societal actors.

The Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, as part of the Faculty of Technology, has extensive collaborations with corporate partners in both research and education. The department works together with adjacent departments to create a creative environment with challenging education and outstanding research. Research in civil engineering includes timber construction technology, steel, concrete, hybrid and composite construction technology, building physics, building materials, structural health monitoring, and life cycle analysis. The department currently offers a Bachelor of Science in Engineering program in Civil Engineering, a Bachelor's program in Building Design, a two-year Master's program in Sustainable Construction Technology, and a Master of Science in Engineering program in Civil Engineering.

This doctoral position will be part of the Linnaeus University Center (Lnuc) Competitive Timber Structures, featuring outstanding research on the use of forest biomaterials to develop and improve wood-based building materials, components, and systems, to reduce the construction sector's climate impact and create long-term carbon sinks through wood-based products and buildings. The goal of Lnuc Competitive Timber Structures is to strengthen the scientific foundation and establish research for a holistic design of sustainable timber structures, promoting the transition to a green and climate-neutral construction sector.

Subject area for the position: Civil Engineering

Location: Växjö. Since Linnaeus University is located in both Växjö and Kalmar, travel between locations may occur.

Employment scope and duration: The doctoral position is fixed-term in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance (Chapter 5, Section 7). The position is full-time.

Start date: October 1, 2026, or by agreement.

Job Description

The doctoral candidate will work together with a research team and contribute to the development of new knowledge and technical solutions for AI-driven quality assessment of wood and wood products. The doctoral candidate's main responsibility is to conduct research focused on developing models and tools for automatic and non-destructive evaluation of sawn timber using optical scanning and deep learning. The project focuses on improving the understanding of how external and internal wood properties are linked to technical and aesthetic properties, with the goal of enabling better utilization of wood raw materials and supporting the production of sawn timber and wood-based construction products with higher added value.

The work will involve collecting and analyzing large multimodal datasets from optical scanning, laser scanning, and CT scanning of sawn timber, as well as developing AI-based methods to extract information about the wood's internal structure from externally visible properties. The research may cover both coniferous and deciduous species. Research tasks may include, among other things, prediction of fiber orientation, details in the wood material exposed after processing, and the three-dimensional geometry of annual rings and knots. The work may also involve both destructive and non-destructive testing of wood elements and relating detected structures to engineering properties.

According to the Higher Education Ordinance, those employed as doctoral candidates should primarily devote themselves to their own studies. However, a doctoral candidate may, to a limited extent, work with education, research, and administration. Such tasks, however, may not exceed 20 percent of a full-time employment before the doctoral degree has been conferred.

As part of the education, the doctoral candidate will take courses totaling at least 60 higher education credits, in agreement with supervisors. Participation in national and international courses and conferences is supported, as well as exchanges with other parties outside the project.

To read the full advertisement, visit Linnaeus University's website/careers