Stipendiatstilling 1 NORCE (2021-2025)

The position is related to ongoing strategic initiatives in the field of Digital Aquaculture. The candidate will be given flexibility to develop research questions around modelling fish feeding and appetite. The candidate will be expected to take into consideration some of the following biological parameters and technologies to advance the field. The thesis will focus on obtaining real-time information and automated analysis on the fish through 1) cameras, 2) individual fish-tagging/telemetry. This information will be integrated with environmental information to be able to identify some of the following: Biomass, fish movement and classified behaviours (e.g. feeding, aggression, stress), fish physiological responses (heartbeat, gill movement). The areas of application include: Image analysis, data analysis algorithms, machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, fish behavior, data fusion, automation.

There are multiple potential effects: Firstly, it is expected that the PhD candidate will after completion of the degree be one of the first PhD's in digital aquaculture in Norway, thereby strengthening the local expertise in this growing field. Furthermore, by bridging the gap between fish biology and advancing technologies, the project is expected to raise awareness about the actual qualification of sensors in aquaculture installations prior to deployment. The project aimed partly to facilitate the use of camera systems for fish behaviour analysis, thereby results may have an effect on the aquaculture industry to utilize camera capabilities paired with some form of AI model to digitize production cycles.