Do you dream of moving to Finland and boosting your career by working with top-tier water researchers? Send you expression of interest by 16th of May 2025 at the latest.
We have positions open in two Finnish universities, in South-West Finland at the University of Turku and in Northern Finland at the University of Oulu. Turku and Oulu Universities are the main partners in the Digital Waters (DIWA) Flagship, which is an ambitious research and innovation ecosystem, aiming to build digital solutions for water resource management and decision making. DIWA Flagship research is conducted under five themes: 1) hydrological processes, 2) new observation systems, 3) integrated analysis and modelling, 4) digital services, platforms and solutions, and 5) transformative management. Post Doc researchers will be assigned to one of the research themes as an integral part of the DIWA Flagship.
University of Oulu is an international science university that fosters new knowledge, well-being, and innovations. It is one of Finland’s largest and most multidisciplinary universities with 14,000 students and nearly 4,000 employees located in the north of Finland. The positions open are at the Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering research unit, at the Faculty of Technology. The unit carries out research on land, water, and energy systems and their interaction. Climate change, environmental degradation, and energy transition are societal challenges motivating research to find sustainable solutions. Our research unit has 110 researchers in 5 research groups with a strong focus on various aspects of hydrology, water resources, and energy systems engineering. We work with various research groups and stakeholders in Finland and abroad. We are ranked among the leading groups globally.
In water research, we work on hydrological modelling, cold climate hydrology, hydrological process studies, land-atmosphere interactions, groundwater research, water quality, water management, water supply, treatment, and protection. In hydrology, the research includes studies at our research stations and supersites in Finland with a unique and developing infrastructure. We are active in interdisciplinary studies in Finland and different regions abroad, with studies on climate, land, energy and water analysis, modelling and management.
What we offer
We offer a fully-funded short-term collaboration visit (during May-June 2025) to our unit in Finland to develop your MSCA proposal with our globally leading researchers. This opportunity is linked to our activities in the Digital Water Flagship (DIWA) and depending on the candidates’ background, participation in other projects may be considered. Our research services in University of Turku help and support you to polish your final proposal and provide technical support with the application process.
For funded MSCA projects, the best candidates may be offered an additional third year of funding to extend their research. We also provide assistance and support through our national funding programmes to strengthen your career.
DIWA Flagship provides an extensive network of experienced researchers in multiple fields, an ecosystem with private and public sector stakeholders and a front row seat to explore the field of water research and innovations. In addition to furthering your career as a researcher, you have a great opportunity to build a career in the private sector.
Topics
Digital Water Flagship focuses on computational hydrology and water research, building Digital Twins of catchment with integration of Source-to-Sea and Critical Zone approaches.
We especially welcome application on the following topics:
- Hydrology: hydrological process, hydrological modelling, isotope hydrology, groundwater hydrology, catchment hydrology, cold climate hydrology, wetland (peatland) hydrology, hydrological controls on water quality
- Numerical modelling: modeling of climate, land use and energy systems and their nexus assessment, hydrological modelling, tracer aided modelling, groundwater modelling, hydrodynamical modelling
List of supervisors: Björn Klöve, Hannu Marttila, Pekka Rossi, Ali Torabi Haghighi, Pertti Ala-aho, Torben Christensen
Contact info: bjorn.klove@oulu.fi (Oulu) and we3unit@oulu.fi (Oulu)
To apply for University of Oulu, please submit a cover letter, a CV, including publications list, and a one-page project idea description through email to bjorn.klove@oulu.fi or we3unit@oulu.fi.
Expected qualifications: The candidates should meet as many as possible of the following criteria:
- A recent and relevant PhD (after 2020)
- Good publication record, including Q1 journals
- International experience
- Good command of spoken and written English
Expected timeline
- Preproposal and research idea for MSCA grant: DL 16th May 2025
- Invitation for a research visit: by May 2025
- Research visits to develop the MSCA proposal: May-Sept 2025
- DL to submit the MSCA proposal is 10th of Sept 2025
- Decisions on the MSCA grant February 2026
- Start of the funded MSCA project at UTU Sept 2026 or Jan 2027
- For best applicants: 3rd year funded for Sept 2028 – Sept 2029
Assessment and selection of candidates
In the first step of the process, we will choose the candidates for developing competitive MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships grant applications. Applicants will be shortlisted by an internal panel and informed if they have been selected for the next stage asap or by 30th May 2025.
The selected applicants will develop their MSCA PF proposal in cooperation with the UTU and/or UOULU research services and their future supervisors. In addition, they will be offered individual consultations and review of their MSCA PF proposal by the research services via online platform.
