PhD Stipend in Monitoring and Predicting Droughts on National Scale

At the Technical Faculty of IT and Design, Department of Sustainability and Planning (PLAN), a PhD stipend is available within the general study programme Planning and Development. The stipend is open for appointment from 01.10.2026 or soon hereafter. PLAN conducts research and teaching on development and planning in a broad sense, including social science aspects as well as more technical aspects of development, and with a focus on environmental, international as well as administrative dimensions.

Job description
The PhD project is a part of the research project “Drought Resilience through satellite-integrated Early warning And Monitoring (DREAM)” funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF). The purpose of this project is to establish a satellite-integrated hydro-meteorological drought early warning and monitoring system for large-scale river basins. The project will explore both data-driven and model-based approaches for drought predictions, paving the way for a continental high-resolution drought prediction system.

The topic of this PhD position is the monitoring and prediction of droughts on national scale. The PhD student will develop a novel model-based drought index combination to reflect dryness of the atmosphere, hydrology and agriculture for Denmark. For this, the PhD candidate will work on novel approaches to identify droughts by introducing calibration and groundwater coupling to the VIC model. The candidate will develop novel strategies to simultaneously calibrate parameters and assimilate multiple satellite and in-situ observations of streamflow, soil moisture and groundwater into the model. Finally, the satellite-fed VIC model will be run for short-to-seasonal predictions of water dynamics for various dryness scenarios.

Profile
The ideal candidate has:

• MSc degree in Geodesy, Hydrology, Water Resources, Civil Engineering, Physics and Meteorology, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science/Engineering, or a comparable discipline. The MSc degree must be equivalent with the Danish MSc degree to qualify (which is 2 years)
• Highly skilled in numerical modelling and programming is essential
• Experience with at least two of the following disciplines is expected:
  • o hydrological and/or land surface models
  • o calibration and/or data assimilation
  • o satellite geodetic and/or Earth Observation (EO) data processing
  • o meteorological/hydrological data processing and analysis
• Strong interest in collaborative work
• Passionate to present the results in highly ranked peer reviewed scientific journals and at international conferences
• Good English skills (oral and written) are required

We offer

• International, interdisciplinary working environment
• In-house modelling, data processing and data assimilation expertise, software, and High Performance Computation (HPC) infrastructure
• Excellent scientific infrastructure
• Participation in project meetings and international conferences
• Research stay abroad
• Flexible working hours and various opportunities to reconcile work and family life

Qualification requirements
PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Master’s degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Technical Doctoral School of IT and Design in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1124 of September 19, 2025 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions. According to the Ministerial Order, the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time. As part of the PhD study, you are among other things required to complete PhD courses corresponding to 30 ECTS, gain experience with teaching or other forms of knowledge dissemination and complete an external research stay outside of Aalborg University, preferably 3-6 months at a foreign research institution.

To apply , please send the following documents (in English unless indicated, pdf format):

• Motivation letter (max 1 page) outlining your qualifications and motivation to conduct the PhD project
• Project plan (max 2 pages) addressing your understanding of the project’s problem, expected challenges and ideas to overcome them, as well as indicating your experiences within the following disciplines: (1) hydrological and/or land surface models, (2) calibration and/or data assimilation, (3) satellite geodetic and/or Earth Observation (EO) data processing, and (4) meteorological/hydrological data processing and analysis
• CV including a list of scientific outputs (thesis, study projects, papers, etc.) and contact info for two academic references (they will be contacted after shortlisting)
• Copy of MSc diploma*
• Copy of Master thesis (in any language)
• List of exams with ECTS and grades

*If you haven’t completed your Master studies at time of submission, please substitute the MSc diploma with a written statement by your supervisor specifying the expected completion date and confirming that you are expected to finish on time and send the most recent draft of your thesis.

The application must be submitted via Aalborg University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aalborg University’s website.