PhD in Monitoring and Predicting Droughts on National Scale (Geodesy, Hydrology, Earth Observation) Aalborg University in Denmark

PhD opportunity at Aalborg University in monitoring and predicting droughts on a national scale, within the DREAM project: Drought Resilience through satellite-integrated Early warning And Monitoring. The project is hosted by the Department of Sustainability and Planning at Aalborg University and is carried out in collaboration with the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).

The PhD topic focuses on drought resilience, hydrological modelling, Earth Observation, satellite-integrated early warning, and data assimilation. The student will develop a novel model-based drought index combination to represent atmospheric, hydrological, and agricultural dryness for Denmark. The work includes calibration and groundwater coupling to the VIC model, assimilation of satellite and in-situ observations, and short-to-seasonal drought prediction under different dryness scenarios.

Academic background: suitable applicants should have an MSc in Geodesy, Hydrology, Water Resources, Civil Engineering, Physics and Meteorology, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science/Engineering, or a comparable discipline. Strong numerical modelling and programming skills are essential. Experience in at least two of the following areas is expected: hydrological or land surface models, calibration or data assimilation, satellite geodetic or Earth Observation data processing, and meteorological/hydrological data processing and analysis. Good English skills are required.

Funding and duration: this is a PhD stipend funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark project DREAM. The position is full time and normally runs for 3 years. The post also includes PhD coursework, teaching/dissemination experience, and an external research stay abroad, preferably 3–6 months.

Application deadline: 7 August 2026. Applicants must submit a motivation letter, project plan, CV with scientific outputs and two academic references, MSc diploma or supervisor statement if the degree is not yet completed, master thesis, and exam list with ECTS and grades. Applications must be submitted through Aalborg University’s recruitment system.

Contacts: scientific questions can be directed to Professor Ehsan Forootan ([email protected]); application procedure questions can be directed to Lisbeth Diinhoff ([email protected]).