Research Assistant

Job Description

The Department of Geography and Urban Sustainability at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) invites applications for a one-year research assistant position that begins immediately. It is expected that the successful candidate will assist faculty members in the Department with their research projects. The successful candidate will have a strong background in remote sensing, GIS, and statistical analysis. The work tasks include reviewing literature, collecting and processing geospatial data, performing statistical analysis, building spatial models, and mapping data using remote sensing and GIS.

Minimum Qualification

• Master’s degree (MA/MSc minimum) in Geography, GIS/Geomatics, Remote Sensing, Environmental Science, Urban Planning, or related field
  
  

• Hydrology/flood analysis (DEM conditioning, flow direction/accumulation, watershed delineation; familiarity with HEC-HMS/HEC-RAS/SWMM). - Climate/precipitation datasets (e.g., ERA5, IMERG/CHIRPS) and bias correction. - Dashboards & storytelling (ArcGIS Dashboards/StoryMaps), basic web mapping (Leaflet/Mapbox/Experience Builder). - Version control (Git), SQL; basic ML for RS (Random Forest/XGBoost). - Familiarity with UAE/GCC contexts.
  
  

• Demonstrated hands-on experience in academic or applied research projects. - Proven skills in data analysis, geospatial tools, and publication support. - Strong GIS skills (ArcGIS Pro/ArcGIS Online or QGIS): geoprocessing, geodatabases, cartography. - Remote Sensing (RS): handling Sentinel-1/2 and Landsat data, preprocessing (radiometric/atmospheric), indices (e.g., NDVI/NDWI), basic classification/change detection. - Spatial analysis: raster/vector analysis, spatial statistics (e.g., hotspot, KDE), interpolation (IDW/Kriging). - Python for geospatial (at least one): ArcPy, GeoPandas, Rasterio, GDAL/OGR; reproducible notebooks. - Solid data management, metadata/QA-QC, and clear technical writing in English.