Vacancy-ID: 4921
Place of work: Almeria
Starting date: 01.09.2026
Career level: Student research project and final thesis
Type of employment: Part time; Full-time
Duration of contract: 6 Monate
Remuneration: Remuneration is in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Sector - Federal Government (TVöD-Bund)
What to expect
We are developing next-generation AI-based short-term solar irradiance forecasting systems that generate highly resolved irradiance maps to support the integration of photovoltaic (PV) power plants into the balancing energy market. Our approach combines multimodal data sources including satellite imagery, all-sky camera images and ground-based sensor measurements with modern machine-learning, computer-vision and image-processing techniques to learn complex cloud patterns and rapidly changing atmospheric conditions that influence PV power generation. The forecasting framework relies on irradiance maps generated from cloud reconstruction, physical ray tracing and measurement-driven corrections, providing high-quality training data for generative nowcasting models with high spatial and temporal resolution. While the current system already captures many important cloud and sunlight patterns with high accuracy, further improving the realism and spatial detail of the generated irradiance maps remains an exciting research challenge at the intersection of AI, remote sensing, image processing and scientific Python development.
In your master thesis, you will enhance the current model as part of a diverse and motivated team working on energy-transition topics and contributing to climate protection. Close collaboration with supervisors and colleagues will support you in exchanging ideas and solving challenges. You will gain hands-on experience in software development, automated testing, version control and modern image-processing technologies. A particular highlight of the project is the opportunity to work in Almería, one of the sunniest locations in Europe.
Your tasks
- Conduct a literature review on deriving surface solar irradiance from remote sensing data and identify current limitations in our applied system
- Develop methodologies with varying difficulty to incorporated and model the diffuse part of solar irradiance
- Validate your corrections quantitatively with in-situ pyranometer data and physical plausibility analyses focusing on the realistic capture of cloud enhancement scenarios
- Summarize your methodology, experiments and results in a well-structured master's thesis
Your profile
- You have a strong academic record in a master's program in meteorology, physics, computer science, mathematics, engineering or a related field
- Experience in Python
- The ability to work independently and collaborate in an international team
- Prior experience in data analysis, computer vision and git versioning systems
- Confident in speaking and writing English
We offer
DLR stands for diversity, appreciation and equality for all people. We promote independent work and the individual development of our employees both personally and professionally. To this end, we offer numerous training and development opportunities. Equal opportunities are of particular importance to us, which is why we want to increase the proportion of women in science and management in particular. Applicants with severe disabilities will be given preference if they are qualified.
We look forward to getting to know you!
If you have any questions about this position (Vacancy-ID 4921) please contact:
Milon Miah
Tel. +49 2203 6012135
Responsible head of department:
Dr. Stefan Wilbert
Tel.: +49 2203 601 4619
Start of internal publication: 01.06.2026
