PhD in Spatiotemporal Statistics applied to Grass Growth Modelling (VistaMilk, Phase II)
This is an opportunity to undertake a PhD studentship that will form part of the €26million VistaMilk Phase II SFI Research Centre (https://www.vistamilk.ie), involving 13 Research Partners across Ireland, including University College Cork.
In collaboration with partners based in Teagasc Moorepark (Fermoy), the successful candidate will aid in the development of the Teagasc MoSt grass growth model:
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/events/2023/Update-on-the-MoSt-Gra…
Since August 2020, outputs from this model have formed part of the Farming Forecast each Sunday on RTÉ 1 by Met Éireann.
Background and objectives:
Teagasc’s MoSt grass growth model combines data from farms with weather forecasts from Met Éireann to make a weekly grass growth prediction. These data come from PastureBase Ireland, Teagasc’s online grassland database and decision support system. The 84 farms contributing to the model (nationally) are technically efficient commercial farms, and thus are not representative of the average farm.
There are two key deliverables of this PhD. The first will be the development of methods to impute grass growth for farms not currently recording enough data within PastureBase Ireland. Secondly, to encourage wider uptake and increase the accuracy of predictions, advice will be given to farms as to the minimum amount of data needed to apply the MoSt grass growth model.
The successful PhD candidate will explore augmenting currently available data with other spatiotemporal data including land-cover, soil maps, weather station and satellite data. Spatiotemporal data present multiple interesting statistical challenges: misalignment, missingness, differing and/or changing support, non-stationarity and computation to mention a few. On completion of the project, it is expected that you will be an expert in several of these areas.
Spatiotemporal statistics (including models, mathematics and methodologies) is a rich and beautiful area of statistics/mathematics/data science. There are many application areas for spatiotemporal data analysis both within as well as beyond agricultural science, ranging from the microscopic (sub cellular / atomic) to the macroscopic (galactic / universe) scale. There will be scope in the project for tailoring your PhD journey to your research interests, subject to the key deliverables.
Funding:
Funding for this PhD is from VistaMilk, Phase II. This funding includes the PhD stipend and fees at EU rate and money for equipment and travel.
Please note that non-EU students will need to pay additional fees (currently) to the value of €9,230 per annum. As part of your application, you will need to provide evidence of sufficient financial support to cover these fees for the duration of study (the next 4 years).
Application Instructions
Please address your application to Dr Ben Taylor and Dr John O’Mullane, at the email address btaylor@ucc.ie with “VistaMilk PhD Application” in the subject line of the email.
The deadline is July 8th 2025.
Please attach a single PDF document that contains:
- A cover letter of 1 to 2 pages: Your letter should clearly set out your suitability and motivation for this post with reference to your past relevant experience and achievements.
- A CV (max 2 pages) that includes your relevant experience, undergraduate results , any relevant publications (if applicable) and contact information for two academic referees.
- A scan of your degree certificate and verified academic transcripts
- Non-EU applicants: must also include evidence of financial support to cover tuition fees at the level stated above.
Should you be shortlisted for this position, you will need to ensure that your referees are able to send their references directly to us by the date specified at that time (likely mid-July). Interviews will take place mid-late July.
Please contact Dr Ben Taylor, or Dr John O’Mullane at the email address btaylor@ucc.ie or j.omullane@ucc.ie if you have any questions about the position.