PhD Position Bio- Aerial Perching Drones Wildlife Conservation

This research enables drones to perch like birds, using novel sensing to land, rest, and collect environmental data efficiently, extending mission duration in natural unstructured settings.

We are seeking a motivated PhD candidate to join a multidisciplinary project at the intersection of Robotics and wildlife conservation. The project aims to develop autonomous drones capable of perching on natural structures, inspired by the way birds rest on branches, enabling energy‑efficient, quiet, and long‑duration monitoring of ecosystems. The research will integrate novel lightweight perception modalities for robust perching in the wild, agile control algorithms, and environmental interaction strategies to support wildlife observation and sampling in natural habitats.

As part of the project, the PhD will interface with 11 PhDs from other disciplines, participate in field campaigns in Kenya, as well as dissemination and teaching activities. This PhD position is fully funded for 4 years.

Wildbotics is a Marie‑Curie Doctoral Network Program that employs 12 PhD candidates in 10 different countries in Europe. The overarching aim of Wild Botics is to advance the digital revolution of nature conservation by integrating robotics, computer science, and conservation ecology, with autonomous robots as a unifying platform. The Doctoral Candidates will form an interdisciplinary network of researchers working across Europe, develop new autonomous systems (innovation in robotics), enhance sensor and software capabilities (innovation in computer science), and combine these to enable large‑scale automated sampling to complement vision‑based data in complex field settings (innovation in ecology).

Each of the 12 candidates will conduct research based in one of the three main subject areas of Wild Botics: (i) Robot system design for nature conservation, (ii) Autonomy, perception and AI for complex natural environments and (iii) Analysis of large, sample‑based datasets for wildlife ecology & biodiversity conservation. The candidates will work together within the Wild Botics network and engage in multidisciplinary training‑by‑research to develop technology in close collaboration with end‑users around the world.

More information on the project is available here.

The successful candidate will join the Biomorphic Intelligence Lab at TU Delft’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in the Netherlands. The lab focuses on the design and control of drones to enable physical interaction with their surroundings, powered by new concepts of bodily intelligence.

More information about the lab is available here.

• Master degree in Robotics or Aerial Robotics.
• Strong programming skills (Python, C++, ROS).
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Independent approach to work in research demonstrated by self‑led projects.
• Availability to join field testing in Kenya.
• Experience with operating drones is desirable, but not essential.
• Interest in wildlife conservation and ecological applications.
• Ability to work independently and in interdisciplinary teams.

No residence or main activity (work, studies etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary (The Netherlands) for more than 12 months in the 36 months before their recruitment date.

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world‑famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world‑class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem‑solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the…