Research Fellow in Remote Sensing in Tea Agriculture

Organisation: Cranfield University

Faculty or Department: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Based at: Cranfield Campus, Cranfield, Bedfordshire

Hours of work: 37 hours per week, normally worked Monday to Friday. Flexible working will be considered, including part-time hours.

Contract type: Fixed term contract

Fixed Term Period: Until November 2028

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range of £37,337 per annum (pro rata for part-time hours)

Apply by: 07/12/2025

We welcome applications from researchers who are passionate about sustainable agriculture and that have skills and experience in extracting useful knowledge from remote sensing data.

To carry out research involving the integration of drone-based imaging, multispectral data analysis, phenotyping techniques, and the development of digital twins to revolutionize tea agriculture practices. You will join our new BBSRC Business and Academia Prosperity Partnership between Cranfield University and LIPTON Teas and Infusions. The partnership project combines digital agriculture, crop modelling and molecular breeding to improve the resilience and sustainability of the East African tea crop. You will have the opportunity to visit data collection sites in the tea growing regions of Kenya.

You will be educated to doctoral level in some aspect of remote sensing, agricultural engineering, geospatial science, or a closely related field. Ideally you will have experience of drone-based data collection and crop physiology. With excellent communication skills, you will be able to work effectively with a range of stakeholders in academia and businesses within agricultural supply chains and will have a track record of preparing high quality reports and peer-reviewed manuscripts.

As a specialist postgraduate university, Cranfield’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships are creating leaders in technology and management globally. Learn more about Cranfield and our unique impact here.

Our shared, stated values help to define who we are and underpin everything we do: Ambition; Impact; Respect; and Community. Find out more here.

We aim to create and maintain a culture in which everyone can work and study together and realise their full potential. We are a Disability Confident Employer and proud members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme. We are committed to actively exploring flexible working options for each role and have been ranked in the Top 30 family friendly employers in the UK by the charity Working Families. Find out more about our key commitments to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Flexible Working here.

Collaborating and connecting are integral to so much of what we do. Our Working Arrangements Framework provides many staff with the opportunity to flexibly combine on-site and remote working, where job roles allow, balancing the needs of our community of staff, students, clients and partners.

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Dr Toby Waine, Reader in Applied Remote Sensing, on (E): , or Professor Andrew Thompson, Professor of Molecular Plant Sciences & Head of Soils, Agrifood & Biosciences, on (E):

Closing date for receipt of applications: 7 December 2025

Interviews to be held: 15 December 2025

Please note that we reserve the right to close this advert prior to the stated closing date should we receive sufficient numbers of applications. Therefore, we would encourage you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.