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PhD in Fire-Resilient Landscapes, Wildfire Risk and Ecosystem Recovery KU Leuven in Belgium

Degree Level

PhD

Field of study

Computer Science

Funding

Full funding available

Deadline

Jul 30, 2026

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Country

Belgium

University

KU Leuven

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Keywords

Computer Science
Environmental Science
Biology
Remote Sensing
Geography
Earth Science
Land Management
Landscape Ecology
Ecological Modeling
Ecological Restoration
Statistics
Machine learning

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About this position

PhD vacancy in Fire-Resilient Landscapes under Climate Change: Linking Land Management, Wildfire Risk and Ecosystem Recovery at KU Leuven, within the Division of Forest, Nature and Landscape (FNL), the sGlobe lab, and in collaboration with PXL BIO-Research / INBO.

This PhD is part of the FireRisk project and focuses on understanding how land management and landscape design influence wildfire risk and post-fire ecosystem resilience. The project combines landscape ecology, ecology, geospatial analysis, remote sensing, GIS, ecological modelling, machine learning, and stakeholder engagement. The broader project also includes work on fuel loads, fuel moisture, microclimate conditions, and fire weather indices for improved wildfire risk assessment.

The successful candidate will investigate how land management practices, vegetation, soils, topography, and human land use shape wildfire behaviour and recovery after fire. Field monitoring, satellite-based analyses, harmonized geospatial databases, and predictive modelling tools such as Random Forest and XGBoost are mentioned as part of the research approach. The project aims to support land managers, policymakers, and first responders with decision-support tools for climate adaptation and wildfire management.

Eligibility highlights: MSc in a relevant field (e.g. Ecology, Biology, Bioscience Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Physical Geography, or related discipline), strong grades, background in terrestrial ecology and ecological modelling, programming skills (e.g. R), fieldwork and spatial data analysis experience, and fluent English.

Funding: full-time PhD fellowship for 4 years, with salary according to KU Leuven assistant scales and additional benefits such as ecocheques and commuting support.

Deadline: 30 July 2026. Interviews are planned for end of August 2026, with selection notification in mid-August 2026.

How to apply: email your CV and application letter to [email protected]. Include a short description of how you would approach the project and at least one reference.

Funding details

Full funding including tuition fees and living expenses is available for this position. The scholarship covers all educational costs and provides a monthly stipend.

How to apply

Please submit your application including a cover letter, CV, academic transcripts, and contact information for two references. Applications should be sent via the online portal before the deadline.

More information can be found here

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