Sweet-APPS New Graduate Student Positions

We are currently recruiting for students to become a part of Sweet-APPS and start a PhD in Fall 2021.

The Sweet-Fellowship includes:

  • Receive stipends for three years at $30,000 per year;

  • Benefits and tuition support for three years;

  • Certificate in Agricultural Data Science from NCSU's College of Ag & Life Science

  • Professional development and soft-skill training opportunity through the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research’s (FFAR) Fellows Program, including annual residential sessions and travel funds for two University Industry Consortium meetings;

  • A short-term research exchange at the Idaho National Laboratory;

  • Networking opportunities with professionals at SAS and Microsoft

The Sweet-Fellows will receive a PhD in one of the following:

Students with backgrounds in agriculture, agricultural engineering, biological engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, software engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, industrial engineering, optical sensors, remote sensing, geology or related fields are welcome to apply.

The selected applicants will be part of a diverse, multidisciplinary team of researchers at North Carolina State University working to capture, integrate, and analyze sweetpotato production data collected from field to market. Learn more about the project here , and see recent press releases describing the project here. The students will be encouraged to develop research questions tailored to their unique interests and career goals, while working in the context of sweetpotato agriculture. Sweetpotato is a key horticultural crop in North Carolina, and the students who work on this project will have the opportunity to produce results that directly support the sustainability and resilience of local food systems, while generating generalizable insight that more broadly advances the use of data science in agriculture.

Examples of research for the Sweet-Fellows are:

  • Performing techno-economic analysis of agricultural supply chains to highlight opportunities for improvement.

  • Developing and using optical sensors for predicting plant growth parameters in the lab, greenhouse, and field.

  • Implement satellite remote sensing for agricultural productivity analysis and modeling

Contact us

To apply, complete the application at grad.ncsu.edu/apply by February 1, 2021. and contact any of the advisors (Drs. Jones, Nelson and/or Kudenov) with your CV attached or Dr. Dani Jones (dsjones5@ncsu.edu) for general questions regarding these positions. Students who are members of historically underrepresented groups in STEM are particularly encouraged to apply.

Additional Details

Short-term research exchange at the Idaho National Laboratory

We have secured travel funding to INL in the Summer of 2023 so that the three PhD students can exhibit their findings to INL researchers. While the application is to produce production, we believe that the techniques and skills these students will gain from their work, could be directly applied to the current work done in non-edible feedstock in the Bioenergy Analysis team or others. Our hope is to foster more healthy, mutually beneficial relationships between INL and NCSU while providing promising students with an alternative career path at a national laboratory.

Professional Networking with SAS

We will coordinate a workshop in the Summer of 2022 where the three PhD students will exhibit their findings to SAS Professionals in teams such as the AgTech, Education and/or the Operations Research. Our hope is to continue fostering healthy, mutually beneficial relationships between SAS and NCSU while expanding the students' networking opportunities.

The Sweet-Fellows will also become FFAR Fellows , a unique program that helps prepare a career ready STEM workforce by breaking down the disciplinary silos and focusing on professional development and soft-skills. Fellows are paired with industry mentors who provide career guidance. This mentorship equips students with the skills needed to facilitate their transition to the workforce and prepare future food and agriculture leaders. The flagship component of the FFAR Fellows Program is the annual professional development workshop, where fellows participate in professional and interpersonal skills training. These trainings are complimented by a personalized development plan to help students excel in the workforce. In partnership with a consortium of industry leaders, this program prepares the agricultural workforce to optimize impact on the future of the industry.