Research Associate / Fellow – Computational Ecology & Soil Modeling

About the role

The Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University is seeking three Research Fellows and one Research Associate to join a computational ecology team. The position starts as early as 1 August 2026 and focuses on building a process‑guided, AI‑assisted soil community foundation model for natural climate solutions.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and optimise soil organic carbon models, emphasizing microbial processes and stoichiometry dynamics.
• Design enhanced rock weathering models with hydrological coupling and organo‑mineral interactions.
• Create crop models that capture pore‑to‑rhizosphere scale nutrient uptake and yield dynamics.
• Conduct 14C modelling for soil organic and inorganic carbon pools.
• Collect, integrate, and synthesise global soil meta‑databases.
• Integrate new modules into Earth system models, run scenario simulations and perform prognostic analyses.
• Develop physics‑informed deep learning, hybrid modelling, and AI reasoning algorithms.

Required profile

• Master’s degree (Research Associate) or PhD (Research Fellow) in ecology, biogeochemistry, earth/soil science, environmental science, hydrology, computer science or a related field.
• Familiarity with soil carbon or element cycles.
• Prior experience in at least one of: process‑based model development, Earth system model simulation, data assimilation, large‑scale data collection, high‑performance computing, or deep learning.
• Strong academic writing and communication skills, with evidence of peer‑reviewed publications or conference presentations.

Required skills

• Process‑based modelling
• Data analytics
• Deep learning
• Artificial intelligence algorithm development
• High‑performance computing