Two Fully Funded PhD Positions in Social-Ecological Change, Landscape Ecology, and Social Indicators at ETH Zurich ETH Zurich in Switzerland

ETH Zurich is advertising two fully funded PhD positions in the DEPOPLAND project, a highly interdisciplinary research initiative on social-ecological change in depopulating rural landscapes worldwide.

Position 1: Doctoral position in landscape ecology and geospatial analysis
This role focuses on assessing ecological change in shrinking and growing rural landscapes using large-scale population datasets, spatial analysis, remote sensing, and multiscale geospatial workflows. The work includes developing spatial-temporal indicators of landscape heterogeneity and ecological processes, analysing long-term landscape transformations, and working with large satellite and geospatial datasets.

Position 2: Doctoral position in social indicator development with text-based and spatial data
This role focuses on modelling trajectories of objective and subjective well-being using spatial data and computational text analysis. The project uses large text-based datasets such as news archives and GDELT, alongside social indicator and time-series data, to derive spatially and temporally explicit indicators of well-being and to build machine learning models for analysis and prediction.

The positions are hosted by the Chair of Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems (PLUS) at the Institute for Spatial and Landscape Development, ETH Zurich, in collaboration with partners at the University of Zurich and the Universities of Kassel and Göttingen. The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and is part of a broader effort to understand ecological and social trajectories in rural areas experiencing population decline.

Eligibility highlights include a relevant Master’s degree, strong quantitative and programming skills, excellent English, and experience in either landscape ecology / remote sensing / geospatial analysis or computational text analysis / NLP / social indicators. Additional experience with Google Earth Engine, machine learning, reproducible research, and large datasets is valued.

Application deadline: 28 June 2026. The intended start date is 1 November 2026, and the appointment duration is four years.

How to apply: submit your application online via the ETH Zurich portal with a cover letter, CV, transcripts, referee contacts, and optional work examples/testimonials. Questions should be directed to Dr. Maarten J. van Strien at [email protected].