Are you ready to continue your scientific career by addressing the urgent need for climate resilient and adaptive infrastructure solutions? We are looking for a talented and motivated postdoc to help develop the methodological basis for risk-based design of resilient water systems and infrastructure across hydrological scales, hazards and impacts. At DTU Sustain you will break new ground at the absolute forefront of multi-hazard hydrological statistics and climate change adaptation of urban and regional water systems and other infrastructure systems.

The position is affiliated with CEBE – Civil Engineering and the Green Transition in the Built Environment – a new research programme involving DTU, Aalborg University, Aarhus University, and the University of Southern Denmark. The Villum Foundation is investing one billion Danish kroner in CEBE over the next ten years. The vision of CEBE is to create a science-based circular, low-carbon and resilient built environment within planetary boundaries – regenerative by design, radically efficient in its use of resources and resilient to climate extremes.

You will be employed in the Water Systems Section (WS) at DTU Sustain, DTU Lyngby campus. You will contribute to our involvement in CEBE’s Research Area 5: Climate-resilient and adaptable infrastructure, as well as other research projects hosted by the section. You will also have the opportunity to participate in meetings, seminars, conferences and research collaboration activities with a wide range of Danish and international academic and industrial partners.

Responsibilities and qualifications

About your role
Your overall focus will be to strengthen the department’s competencies within hydrological extremes and data science. Your particular focus will be on variability across scales, hazards and impact categories, supporting the development of design criteria for civil infrastructure. You will consider different hazards that pose threats to society and civil infrastructure, for example, hydrological hazards (river flows, rainfall, drought), coastal hazards (storm surges), structural hazards (wind) and heatwaves (temperature) – as well as compound events where multiple hazards occur concurrently.

You will work both independently and in collaboration with colleagues in the WS section and beyond and collaborate with academic and industrial partners in Denmark as well as abroad. Your primary tasks will be to:

• Explore risk-based design methods from across civil and environmental engineering sub-disciplines to ensure your own methodological research will have broad applicability.
• Use, adapt, and harmonise statistical and machine learning methods for extreme value analysis and regionalisation that account for non-stationarity in both time and space, and leverage heterogeneous data sources such as sparse ground-based observations, remote sensing products, climate projections, and reanalysis datasets.
• Engage with stakeholders from, for example, industry and government agencies to ensure the relevance and applicability of research outputs.
• Access and use publicly available open data sets, and curate and publish own standardized data sets on hydrological extremes in collaboration with colleagues and external collaborators.
• Publish results in leading international peer-reviewed journals, present at international conferences and contribute to project reporting and dissemination activities
• Support and collaborate with PhD students and other postdocs working on topics related to the position as well as other researchers connected with CEBE.
• Support teaching, e.g. through the preparation of teaching materials, classroom teaching or the supervision of BSc and MSc student projects. These tasks will be of limited extent (

About you
You are excited about the prospect of conducting research to support civil and environmental engineering professionals in their work to create more livable cities with adaptive and sustainable civil infrastructure that is resilient to more extreme climatic conditions.

You are interested in pursuing a scientific career and motivated to investigate novel and uncertain techniques and communicate the results. You enjoy interdisciplinary collaboration and you are pragmatic and motivated to get your research implemented in real-world solutions that help creating a resilient society. You are keen to co-develop your research plan together with your project leaders and other collaborators. Finally, you have an open mind and can think creatively in engineering, and communication contexts.

As a formal qualification, you must hold a PhD degree (or equivalent) in civil or environmental Engineering, hydrology/earth sciences, data science/applied statistics or similar.

You enjoy juggling large amounts of data and working in a python-scripting environment with responsible use of coding agents. The following qualifications will be considered an advantage. We do not expect candidates to hold all of them, so we encourage you to apply also when you only partially meet these wishes:

• Experience with extreme value statistics and machine learning techniques for modeling spatial and temporal variability and correlation patterns. Our recent work has e.g. employed Bayesian hierarchical models with INLA-SPDE and graph neural networks, but we are open to also exploring new paths.
• Understanding of meteorological and hydrological processes, and experience with observations from ground-based sensors as well as open remote sensing, climate projection and reanalysis data sets.
• Familiarity with risk-based infrastructure design and adaptive planning methods.
• Experience working in an interdisciplinary and international research environment engaged in collaboration with external parties.

We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. In addition, supplements can be negotiated in accordance with DTU’s salary structure for scientific staff: www.inside.dtu.dk/en/human-resources/during-employment/salary/salary-structures.

The period of employment is 3 years.

Starting date is 1 February 2027 (or as soon as possible and according to mutual agreement). The position is a full-time position. The position will include a travel budget funded by the CEBE centre.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.
Further information
Further information may be obtained from Prof. Peter Steen Mikkelsen ([email protected]) or Head of Section Roland Löwe ([email protected]).

You can read more about DTU sustain at www.sustain.dtu.dk and about CEBE at https://www.cebe.dk

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark.

Application procedure
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 1 December 2026 (23:59 Danish time).

Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply now", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• Application (cover letter)
• CV
• Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD – in English)
• List of publications
• A research statement (1-3 pages) that explains your ideas and why you believe you are suitable for the role
• Names and contact details of at least two references

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.

DTU Sustain - Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering - is one of Europe’s largest university departments specializing in environmental and resource engineering. The department conducts research, development & scientific advice and provides educational programs and service to society. We are working to develop new environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies, methods and solutions, and to disseminate this knowledge to society and future generations of engineers. The Department has approximately 300 staff from more than 50 nationalities.

Water Systems (WS) Section at DTU Sustain
Water systems across regional and urban scales are focal points of climate change impacts, as floods and droughts are expected to become more frequent and more severe in the future, exacerbating pollution risks to water resources. Water systems are also critical infrastructure and may be exposed to non-climatic threats. We provide new scientific insights and engineering solutions to understand impacts, support adaptation, and minimize risks to the environment and human health. Our research outputs are used by the consulting industry, water utilities, governmental agencies, and the research community. We are currently a group of 8 faculty and 12 junior scientists that actively and frequently collaborates. You can expect a welcoming environment with regular scientific and social activities. We are an application-oriented group with strong ties to infrastructure operators, industry and authorities.

DTU – For the benefit of society since 1829
DTU is one of Europe's leading elite technical universities. Through research and education at an international top level, we create solutions to the major societal challenges of our time and help secure Europe's global leadership in sustainable technological development. Since Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU almost 200 years ago, our mission has remained the same: We develop and create value through the natural and technical sciences for the benefit of society. DTU has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students, and 6,500 employees. We work in an international environment and have an inclusive, stimulating, and informal work culture. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and collaborates with the best universities around the world.

Location
Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

Apply Before
2026-12-01T22:59:00+00:00