09 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Aalto University, Finland

The post-doctoral researcher would overall concentrate on Research Theme 1 “Hydrosphere processes” of DIWA Flagship, more precisely related to “Surface water processes and environment”. The post-doctoral researcher would be analysing the hydro-morphodynamic changes in seasonally ice-covered river channels and participate in field measurements (incl. during ice-covered winter season), but also conduct flume experiments with ice-covered conditions. In particular, the post-doctoral researcher would concentrate on analysing and modelling open-channel and ice-covered flow and sediment transport magnitudes and changes in different types of river channels within Finland (from South to North). The field data gathered from ice-covered and open-channel flow seasons in Finnish rivers would be applied for the refinement of the model parameterization, but also, if necessary, of their code and application approaches. Thus, the candidate would be part of constructing the Digital Twins at Finnish river systems and watersheds.

The postdoctoral researcher(s) will work in close collaboration with Digital Waters (DIWA) Flagship (www.digitalwaters.fi), whose PI at Aalto University is Assistant Professor Eliisa Lotsari (Funded by the Research Council of Finland). DIWA will form, facilitate and foster a new generation of the water sector. We enable a transition towards the digital representation of real-world water systems (Digital Twin) to reproduce hydrological storages, their states, fluxes and processes, as well as ecosystem responses with novel options for improved scenario analysis, planning and governance. The candidate would become a part of a multidisciplinary team of experts. In addition to Aalto University, DIWA Flagship includes experts from several Finnish universities and institutes, e.g. University of Oulu, University of Turku, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, and Finnish Meteorological Institute. The work within DIWA will aim for enhancing water security through digital models, and Digital Twins created from the supersites of the consortium.

The post-doctoral researcher would overall concentrate on Research Theme 1 “Hydrosphere processes” of DIWA Flagship, more precisely related to “Surface water processes and environment”. The post-doctoral researcher would be analysing the hydro-morphodynamic changes in seasonally ice-covered river channels and participate in field measurements (incl. during ice-covered winter season), but also conduct flume experiments with ice-covered conditions. In particular, the post-doctoral researcher would concentrate on analysing and modelling open-channel and ice-covered flow and sediment transport magnitudes and changes in different types of river channels within Finland (from South to North). The field data gathered from ice-covered and open-channel flow seasons in Finnish rivers would be applied for the refinement of the model parameterization, but also, if necessary, of their code and application approaches. Thus, the candidate would be part of constructing the Digital Twins at Finnish river systems and watersheds.

Aalto University invites applications for two postdoctoral researcher positions within the Water and Environmental Engineering Research Group WAT (https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-built-environment/water-and-environmental-engineering). The positions are related to our new Digital Waters (DIWA) Flagship (www.digitalwaters.fi) and particularly its Research Theme 5 Transformative Water Management. The postdocs will work on themes related to water resources management and water governance, sustainability and digitalization, with a possibility to contribute also to stakeholder engagement and societal impact work. The positions are planned to include both research and interaction work, with the division between those two tasks agreed together with the selected persons. We therefore encourage applicants from a variety of relevant fields and methodological competence (qualitative and/or quantitative research) as well as relevant competences to apply. The positions will be filled until the end of year 2027.

DIWA flagship is a unique research and innovation ecosystem in the water sector, carrying out cutting-edge research and supporting management and decision-making through innovations and active stakeholder engagement. DIWA’s goal is to secure water for people and ecosystems through integrated and sustainable practices and novel digital solutions. DIWA is implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium of three universities (University of Oulu, University of Turku, Aalto University) and three research institutes (Finnish Environment Institute, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Finnish Meteorological Institute) in close collaboration with partners from public and private sector, academia and civil society. DIWA also links closely to new DIWA doctoral education pilot (https://digitalwaters.fi/phd-pilot) that will engage altogether 60 doctoral researchers in five different universities (Oulu, Turku, Aalto, Åbo Akademi and the University of Eastern Finland) to carry out multi- and interdisciplinary research related to water and its management.  DIWA works through five key Research Themes: RT1 Hydrosphere processes; RT2 New observational systems; RT3 Integrated analysis and modelling; RT4 Digital services, platforms, and business applications; and RT5 Transformative water management.

Aalto University invites applications for a postdoctoral researcher position within the Water and Environmental Engineering Research Group WAT (https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-built-environment/water-and-environmental-engineering). The position is related to our new Digital Waters (DIWA) Flagship, implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium of several universities and research institutes in Finland (www.digitalwaters.fi). DIWA’s goal is to secure water for people and ecosystems through integrated and sustainable practices and novel digital solutions. The postdoc will work on DIWA’s Research Theme 5 ‘Transformative Water Management’, and particularly themes related to past and future changes in large-scale hydrological conditions. The position will be filled until the end of year 2027.

This open postdoc position focuses on evaluating the impact of climate change on hydrological conditions by utilising global historical data from observations and reanalysis products. The aim is to create a comprehensive hydrometeorological data cube that allows us to compare the trends across areas using machine learning algorithms.  The derived results can then be used in assessing future changes in reference areas, by using past trends from “learning areas”, with similar overall hydrometeorogical characteristics.

The Ice Mechanics Group at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Aalto University studies how sea ice deforms and fractures in different scales and applications. The importance of research on this topic is enhanced by global warming, which is both increasing the fragmentation of ice and changing the mechanical properties of ice; processes related to mechanical sea ice deformation, such as ice break-ups and ridge building, will become more frequent and stronger. Novel numerical models for sea ice behavior and failure form a central part of the research on this topic and are developed and used by the Ice Mechanics Group.

Simulations are often used to predict the future of the ice-covered seas, but simulating sea ice is challenging. Large-scale continuum models are capable of modeling ice behavior with a resolution of some tens of kilometers. Such models do not accurately describe small-scale processes related to deformation and failure of ice. The ice properties, such as compressive strength, must be then tuned so that the models to present observed ice behavior. Predictive power of the large-scale models suffers from this. Engineering-scale ice mechanics, on the other hand, is performed on scales ranging from one meter to one kilometer, where continuum approach does not suffice, but ice failure processes must be modelled in detail. Here we wish to link large-scale sea ice modeling with detailed engineering-scale understanding on sea ice deformation processes by using computational tools with a capability accounting for both scales.

The work will be primarily performed by using discrete element method. We have readily validated in-house high-resolution discrete element tools dedicated for sea ice modeling, which we have thought to use in the modeling related to this work. You can, however, also suggest using some other tool for the work (include justification into your research plan).  We are also considering moving towards machine learning-accelerated computational models and this step may also form a part of your research. The main aim, in any case, is to increase the insight on the large-scale sea ice dynamics; we wish to both develop and apply high-resolution large-scale simulation tools to answer central questions related to sea ice behavior across scales.

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to join our research group at the interphase between organic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and photoresponsive molecular materials. We are interested in the structure-function relationship of molecular chromophores. In this position, you will be developing a novel family of dyes based on the aggregation induced phenomenon, targeting to achieve photo response between their on and off emitting state.

The water and environmental engineering research group contributes to research and offers teaching under following themes: water and wastewater engineering, water and development, water resources management and environmental hydraulics. The group is part of the Sustainable cities -bachelor programme and offers its own Master programme on Water and environmental engineering (WAT). The group consists at the moment of six professors, one university lecturer, one university teacher, two staff scientists, post-doctoral reserachers and doctoral researcher all together about 40 persons. The group operates a well-equipped water laboratory with a pilot hall. Several pilots for physico-chemical and biological treatment processes are in active use in teaching and research.

The selected person will be teaching in the Master programme of Water and Environmental engineering (http://aalto.fi/wat). The selected person is expected to contribute to the development and teaching of a new Master level course focusing on circular economy aspects of Water engineering. In addition, the person will have teaching tasks in other Master level courses and in thesis advising. The person is expected to have skills on impact assessment and modelling of circular economy solutions related to water, nutrients or other resources. Knowledge on technical water and waste infrastructure and systems in built environment is an asset.      

A Postdoctoral Researcher position is available in the Living Matter group of Prof. Matilda Backholm at the Department of Applied Physics at Aalto University. The position is fully funded by the ERC project SWARM. Our research focuses on developing new cutting-edge techniques to probe the forces and flow in small living systems, such as microswimmers, plant roots, and immune cells. Our research is interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven, and we work in an inclusive and collaborative manner.