Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences, 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 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty of Geosciences is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Human Geography & Spatial Planning, Physical Geography, and Sustainable Development.

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 of over 50 scientists and more than 110 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. 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.

About Utrecht
The department and its facilities are located at Utrecht Science Park. 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 the 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 PhD candidate with an MSc background in Earth, Environmental, Atmospheric, Sustainability, Ecological, or Public Health Sciences, or other appropriate fields. You will work on the project ‘Past, present, and future impacts of human-induced air-water pollution on planetary health’.

Air and water are fundamental components of the Earth system and the planet’s primary life-support media. Since pre-industrial times, human-induced air and water pollution has become one of the most pervasive anthropogenic pressures. Nitrogen emissions from agriculture, fossil-fuel combustion, wastewater discharge, etc., modified by hydrological alteration and climate change, propagate through tightly coupled air-water-climate systems, affecting ecosystems and humans across regions and generations.

In this four-year study, you will quantify and map how human-driven nitrogen pollution from farming, fossil fuels, and wastewater moves and transforms through air and water and affects both ecosystem and human health worldwide using the global spatially explicit, integrated biogeochemistry model IMAGE-DGNM. You will couple the state-of-the-art biogeochemical model with health and ecological evidence to identify where and why health risks are highest, and how those risks have changed since the 1850s and may evolve to 2100 under different scenarios. Crucially, you will translate impacts into interpretable, comparable numbers, such as populations affected, biodiversity loss, and economic costs, so they can be weighed against the benefits of development. Finally, you will test future solutions under different climate and pollution-control pathways to help design region-specific, cost-effective policies for a healthier planet. We invite you to share your ideas and suggestions for this innovative project in your motivation letter.

The PhD candidate will be part of the research group of daily supervisor Dr Junjie Wang in the Department of Earth Sciences and co-supervised by Dr Kaj-Ivar van der Wijst at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development.

Your development
A personalised training programme will be set up, reflecting your training needs and career objectives. About 20% of your time will be dedicated to this training component, which includes following courses/workshops as well as training on the job in assisting in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes of the department at Utrecht University.

Your qualities

You are a motivated team player, have experience in modelling using programming language(s), and have completed your MSc degree in Earth Sciences, Environmental Science, Atmospheric Science, Sustainability Science, Ecology, Epidemiology, or a related discipline by the time the position starts.

Furthermore, you have:

• strong and demonstrable skills (shown by a relevant master research project experience or course study) in running:
  • (1) nutrient or pollutant transport, cycling, or budget models,
  • or (2) water or air quality models,
  • or (3) macroeconomic cost-benefit assessment models
  • experience with scenario/sensitivity analysis will be a plus;
• a strong theoretical background in environmental and Earth system or sustainability science (e.g., nitrogen and pollutant biogeochemistry, hydrology, atmospheric science, ecosystem/public health impacts, or macroeconomy), with demonstrated interest in linking pollution dynamics to planetary health (shown by a relevant master's research project experience or courses);
• strong quantitative skills;
• willingness to work on new data collection and model methodology development;
• motivation to cooperate in a diverse and multidisciplinary research team;
• excellent communication skills;
• Being fluent in the use of Python or a similar programming language is essential;
• Proficiency in spoken and written English is essential.

If you have an international (non-Dutch) Master’s diploma, you will be requested to provide your Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas as well as the corresponding grade lists (in English) when you are selected for this position. Non-Dutch Master’s diplomas may be subject to specific approval by the Board for Conferral of Doctoral Degrees before you can be accepted into the PhD programme.

We highly encourage applicants from all members of our community and of diverse backgrounds to join us.

Terms of employment

We offer:

• a position for 1 year, with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period;
• a working week of 36 - 40 hours and a gross monthly salary between € 3.059 and €3.881 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities. You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

For more information about this position (not for application), please contact Dr Junjie Wang at j.wang3@uu.nl and Dr Kaj-Ivar van der Wijst at k.vanderwijst@uu.nl.

To apply, use this link to the original advertisement on our own website and follow the guidelines there. E-mail applications cannot be accepted. Include the following information in your application:

• a letter of motivation, in which you describe why you wish to pursue this PhD position and what makes you the best candidate for it; also include why you wish to pursue your PhD in our department in general;
• your curriculum vitae, including any courses taken that are relevant for the position;
• academic credentials (mark sheets and degree statements) as far as already available and relevant.

No reference letters need to be submitted in your initial application. If you are short-listed, we will contact you for referees. We aim for a quick selection procedure after the application deadline of July 1st, 2026. Candidates must meet the requirements and must be able to start between October 1st, 2026 and January 1, 2027 (ultimately).

In that perspective, 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, but the ISD may be able to advise you therewith. 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.