Utrecht University, Department of Earth Sciences

Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences studies the Earth: from the Earth's core to its surface, including man's spatial and material utilisation of the Earth - always with a focus on sustainability and innovation. With a population of 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the Faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Physical Geography, Sustainable Development, and Human Geography & Spatial Planning.

The Department of Earth Sciences conducts teaching and research across the full range of the solid Earth and environmental Earth sciences, with activities in almost all areas of geology, geochemistry, geophysics, biogeology and hydrogeology. Our key research themes are Earth & Planetary Processes, Sustainable Use of the Subsurface, Planetary Health & Environment, and Climate & Life. The department hosts a highly international tenured staff. We house or have access to a wide variety of world-class laboratories, among which are UU’s Electron Microscopy Centre, the Geolab, and the Earth Simulation Lab. We also have excellent High- Performance Computing facilities and organise a warm welcome for every new member.

About Utrecht

Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands with a population of nearly 360,000 and forms a hub in the middle of the country. Its historical city centre and its modern central station can easily be reached from our campus in Utrecht Science Park by public transport or by a 15-minute bicycle ride. Utrecht boasts beautiful canals with extraordinary wharf cellars housing cafés and terraces by the water, as well as a broad variety of shops and boutiques.

Homepage: https://www.uu.nl/geo/aw/

The Department of Earth Sciences is looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral candidate with a background in numerical modeling (DEM, FEM, BEM). You will work on the project “FastSlip”. In this position, you will develop and utilise scale-bridging techniques to model and investigate fault slip in induced seismicity scenarios.

The position is based at Utrecht University (UU) and the project itself is a collaboration between Utrecht University and the University of Twente (UT). You will join the existing team of one PD and one PhD student, led by André Niemeijer (UU), Hongyang Cheng (UT) and Tanmaya Mishra (UT).

The project is part of the research programme DeepNL, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The research programme is aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the effects of human activities in the subsurface. Yearly scientific and stakeholder meetings provide opportunities for interdisciplinary research and interaction with industry.

Qualifications:

We are looking for a motivated candidate with a proven track record of developing and utilising numerical models. Familiarity with multi-scale or scale-bridging techniques is a pre.

You must have successfully completed a PhD programme in Earth Sciences, Physics, Computational Science or a related discipline by the time the position starts. Preferably, you will also have:

• Experience in computational techniques, such as FEM and BEM;
• Experience or strong interest in DEM is highly appreciated;
• Interest in earthquake / fault mechanics;
• Interest in experimental geomechanics;
• Adequate social/verbal/communication skills.

Due to the international character of our research, good command of spoken and written English is essential. We highly encourage applicants from all members of our community and of diverse backgrounds to join us.

Terms of employment:

You will be offered a full-time postdoctoral position for 26 months. The gross monthly salary starts between € 4,075 and € 4,728 based on experience after the PhD (scale 10.3 – 10.7 of the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities). Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8,3% per year. A pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions are based on the Collective Labour Agreement.

In addition to the collective employment conditions, Utrecht University has a number of its own arrangements. These include agreements on professional development, leave arrangements, sports and cultural schemes, and you get discounts on software and other IT products. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment through the Employment Conditions Selection Model. This is how we encourage you to grow. For more information, please visit working at Utrecht University.

For informal questions (not applications), please contact Dr André Niemeijer at a.r.niemeijer@uu.nl.

To apply, please use this link to go to the advertisement on UU’s own website and follow the guidelines mentioned there. We aim for a quick selection procedure after the deadline of October 15^th, 2025. We aim to start the position as soon as January 1^st, 2026 and ultimately by April 1^st, 2026.

Note that international candidates that need a visa/work permit for the Netherlands require at least four months processing time after selection and acceptance. This will be arranged with help of the International Service Desk (ISD) of our university. Finding appropriate housing in or near Utrecht is your own responsibility and, unfortunately, we must warn that it is a tight market at the moment. In case of general questions about working and living in The Netherlands, please consult the Dutch Mobility Portal.

Online screening may be part of the selection. Commercial response to this ad is not appreciated.