PhD in Attribution of European Floods and Extreme Weather Events Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium

PhD opportunity on the attribution of European floods at Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), within the Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA) and in collaboration with the Earth and Climate Center / ELI and the Earth and Life Institute.

The project is part of the EXALT research initiative on extreme weather attribution at mid- and high-latitudes. The successful candidate will study the relative contribution of causal factors to extreme events, with a particular focus on heavy precipitation and floods across different regions of Europe. The research combines climate science, statistics, extreme-value modelling, and environmental science.

The PhD candidate will be supervised by Anna Kiriilouk (UCLouvain) and Francesco Ragone (University of Leicester). The position is based at ISBA, part of LIDAM, and offers an international, multidisciplinary environment with access to high-performance computing, conference travel, research visits, and teaching/consultancy experience.

Funding: full-time three-year PhD grant starting October 1, 2026, with a net salary of around 2500 euros/month. A one-year extension may be possible if additional funding is secured.

Eligibility: master degree (120 ECTS) with distinction in statistics, mathematics, physics, climatology, earth sciences, engineering, or a related field. Strong statistical modelling and programming skills in R and/or Python are expected. English fluency is required; French is a plus. Experience with extreme-value theory or climate data analysis is advantageous.

How to apply: email your CV, motivation letter, and contact details of at least two referees to Anna Kiriilouk and Francesco Ragone. Use the subject line EXALT PhD application.