Aalto University is where science and art meet technology and business. We shape a sustainable future by making research breakthroughs in and across our disciplines, sparking the game changers of tomorrow and creating novel solutions to major global challenges. Our community is made up of 120 nationalities, 14 000 students, 400 professors and close to 5000 other faculty and staff working on our dynamic campus in Espoo, Greater Helsinki, Finland. Diversity is part of who we are, and we actively work to ensure our community’s diversity and inclusiveness. This is why we warmly encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to join our community.
The School of Engineering drives science and innovation in industrial and built environment technologies. We are committed to educating a new generation of experts who combine technical excellence with a deep understanding of sustainable development in shaping societies. Our research focuses on sustainable built environment, mechanics and materials, multidisciplinary energy technology, and design and implementation of technical systems. The strength of our school lies in close collaboration with stakeholders across research and education. About 45 doctoral candidates and 350 master’s students graduate from the school every year. The school is home to 700 staff members, including 70 professors. To learn more, please visit eng.aalto.fi.
Research Assistant in Water Engineering
We are looking for an MSc student to work as a Research Assistant related to DefrostingRivers project (which is part of the larger “Fluvial Dynamics” research team of Aalto University), led by Research Fellow and Assistant Prof. Eliisa Lotsari. The work position is at the Water and Environmental Engineering Research group, BE department, Aalto University. The project aims to determine the impacts of defrosting sedimentary systems on northern rivers, and on their seasonal river ice and hydro-morphodynamics (vertical/lateral erosion), and ultimately determine the present and future watershed scale total sediment delivery. The new theories and future forecasts of seasonal river dynamics and their impacts on societies and ecosystems in cold climate region provide information for decision making, environmental protection, building of infrastructure and sustaining a safe and sustainable society.
The assistant would be working especially related to the ice-covered river systems and analysing the watershed scale total sediment transport. The work would also include upscaling the already observed hydro-morphodynamics to regional level (i.e. arctic region) via using tools of geoinformatics and water engineering. The selected person would be possibly also assisting in the field in autumn 2025 / winter 2026. Also the work would include working in laboratory to analyze the collected water and sediment samples from the field sites.
The assistant would have a possibility to also gain a Master thesis, based on the obtained results and assistance work done in the 6 months period (if 100% full-time). Therefore, we are looking for an enthusiastic person, with technical skills also for field work conditions, for 6 months (starting the latest September 2025). Salary would be following the practices and guidelines of the School of Engineering. Note that the length of the work period is negotiable, i.e. whether or not being full-time or part-time, for example due to possible on-going studies of the applicant. MSc thesis would be supervised by Assistant Prof. Eliisa Lotsari.
During the research assistant position, the assistant will learn to process and analyze the field data sets, and also gains knowledge of the field measurement and laboratory analysis methods. Further the work would deepen the knowledge/experience in programming (pref. Python), geospatial analysis (i.e. geoinformatics), and remote sensing. If already having experience on these above-mentioned skills, those can be indicated in motivation letter (see below). If you have worked on projects related to these themes, you can provide a link, for example to your github page.
Please, attach in your application (in a single pdf-file):
• your study record
• if you have any degree certificates (such as Bachelor degree)
• motivation letter
• CV
The deadline for the application would be Friday 13th of June 2025. Applications are asked to be sent via the official link. Further questions can be sent to eliisa.s.lotsari [at] aalto.fi by the deadline of the application.
More about Aalto University:
Aalto.fi
youtube.com/user/aaltouniversity
linkedin.com/school/aalto-university/
www.facebook.com/aaltouniversity
instagram.com/aaltouniversity
To view information about Workday Accessibility, please click here.
Please see more of our Open Positions here.
