MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship 2026: Call for expression of interest

Offer Description

Do you want to enhance your career by moving to Turku to a top tier research and training environment on water, fluvial and coastal processes and twin transitions in the hydrosphere? Send your expression of interest asap or by 15 May 2026 at the latest.

The University of Turku is an inspiring and international academic community of 25,000 students and staff in Southwest Finland. It is the first Finnish-language university in the world, and its multidisciplinary research and high-quality education have shaped the Finnish society already for over one hundred years.

The University of Turku comprises eight faculties. The positions open are at the Department of Geography and Geology in the Faculty of Science. The Department of Geography and Geology investigates human, societal, and natural processes beyond the Earth’s surface through spatiotemporal, multidisciplinary research ranging from innovation environments and GIS to riverine, coastal, geological, and long-term environmental change across local to global scales. We are well-connected and work with various research groups and stakeholders in Finland and abroad.

In water research, our expertise is in fluvial and coastal dynamics. The Fluvial and Coastal Research Group studies past, present, and future riverine and coastal dynamics, with a focus on how human interaction shapes flow regimes, sediment processes, water quality, and environmental change. Using advanced field methods, remote sensing, and hydro and morphodynamic modelling, the group works especially in subarctic regions and the Baltic Sea. Our research themes include climate change and water protection, flood studies, remote sensing and laser scanning in fluvial studies, marine geoinformatics, maritime spatial planning and coastal zone management and coastal water properties. We conduct research at several research stations and supersites in Finland, where we utilize continually developing unique infrastructures. We are part of the Digital Waters Flagship, which focuses on digital solutions in water management (www.digitalwaters.fi).

What we offer

We offer the possibility of a fully funded short-term visit to our unit in Finland (e.g., August 2026) to collaboratively develop your MSCA proposal with our internationally leading researchers, in close connection with the Digital Water Flagship (DIWA) and strategic national projects such as HydroTwin.

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 programs to advance your career.

Topics

The Digital Water Flagship concentrates on computational hydrology and water research, aiming to build digital twins of catchments and to develop an upgraded critical zone approach for integrated water system analysis.

We especially welcome application on following topics: 

Hydrology: hydrological and river processes, catchment hydrology, river dynamics, river-coastal interactions, catchment land cover, NBS in watersheds.
Numerical modelling: modeling of climate, hydrological modelling, hydro- morphodynamic modelling, coastal hydrodynamic modelling
Digital water systems: digitalization in water resources management and operation, digital twins, environmental monitoring and modelling

List of supervisors: Prof. Petteri Alho; Associate Prof. Elina Kasvi; Associate Prof. Ville Kankare

Contact info: Research Coordinator Riikka Saari, riikka.e.saari@utu.fi

Expected qualifications: The candidates should, when possible, meet the following criteria:

A recent and relevant PhD (after 2021)
Excellent publication record, including Q1 journals
International experience
Fluent in spoken and written English

Expected timeline

Preproposal and research idea for MSCA grant: DL 15 May 2026
Invitation for a research visit to University of Turku by 20 June 2026
Optional research visit to develop the MSCA proposal: August 2026
DL to submit the MSCA proposal is 10th of Sept 2026
Decisions on the MSCA grant February 2027
Start of the funded MSCA project at the University of Turku after spring-autumn 2027
For best applicants: 3rd year funded for Sept 2029 – Sept 2030

Assessment and selection of candidates

Please submit a cover letter, a CV, including a publications list, and a one-page project idea description.

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 10th June 2026.

The selected applicants will develop their MSCA PF proposal in cooperation with their future supervisor in late summer – early autumn 2026.  In addition, they will be offered individual consultations and review of their MSCA PF proposal.

The applicants will also be offered a possibility to visit Turku and to participate in a MSCA PF proposal writing training at the University of Turku.