Postdoc: Machine learning for wind flow prediction in coastal dunes

In this 2-year postdoc position, you will use numerical modelling and machine learning techniques to increase the accuracy of coastal dune models. As a result, your project will inform and enhance decision-making in coastal dune management.

The ultimate goal of this project is to build a surrogate wind field model that can feed accurate wind field predictions into numerical coastal dune models. You will start by evaluating current wind field predictions from the coastal dune model AeoLiS by comparing model output with existing field measurements and/or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Specifically, you will assess where simplified assumptions in the model fall short. You will then train a machine learning model (such as PySR or neural networks) on CFD data to develop a fast, data-driven wind field predictor. You will combine this surrogate model with AeoLiS and evaluate the accuracy of the new model setup by applying it to existing case studies. Where needed, you will contribute to field data collection to support model validation. You will share your results in stakeholder meetings, scientific conferences, and academic journals.

Junior Research Assistant in Research and Reproducibility

The Psychology of Political Behavior Studies (PPBS; ppbs.science) is a longitudinal research programme examining political attitudes, identities, behaviour, and psychological constructs across multiple survey waves, samples, panel providers, and countries. PPBS maintains linked codebooks, data-processing workflows, reproducible reports, a public website, and shared research and project-management infrastructure.

As Senior Research Assistant in Research Operations and Reproducibility, you will ensure that this infrastructure is organised, documented, reproducible, and moving forward. You will work under the direction of Dr Flavio Azevedo and Jasmin Haggemann. You will independently own the technical operation of the pipeline, while scientific, measurement, ethical, and strategic decisions remain with the supervisors and relevant PPBS researchers.

Your core tasks include:

• running, maintaining, debugging, documenting, and incrementally improving PPBS workflows in R and R Markdown or Quarto;
• managing the progression from raw survey exports to cleaned, labelled, processed, validated, and versioned analysis-ready datasets without compromising source-data integrity;
• maintaining reproducible construct reports with descriptive statistics, scale reliability, tables, figures, and transparent analytical documentation;
• implementing and checking variable recoding, value labels, missing-data rules, reverse scoring, derived variables, composite scores, and cross-wave harmonisation;
• generating and maintaining empirical codebooks, data dictionaries, metadata outputs, construct specifications, and validation checks;
• maintaining the PPBS website repository and publication workflow in GitHub, including routine content and report updates and diagnosis of build or deployment problems;
• organising research files and documentation across Dropbox, Google Drive, and GitHub, with clear provenance, naming, versioning, access, and release status;
  preparing meeting agendas and minutes, recording decisions and dependencies, maintaining action trackers, coordinating hand-offs, and following up with contributors; and
• identifying operational and reproducibility risks early, proposing proportionate solutions, and escalating decisions that require scientific or managerial authority.

Because the appointment is short and part-time, the immediate priority is reliable pipeline and report ownership, followed by operational coordination and routine website maintenance. Major software redevelopment or independent statistical research is outside the role unless separately agreed and resourced.

Coordinerend Contentredacteur

Je coördineert multimediale contentproducties en campagnes van idee tot publicatie. Je werkt aan gerichte content voor de vier gedefinieerde doelgroepen: studiekiezers, studenten, medewerkers en algemeen breder publiek. Vanuit de strategische thema’s van de Universiteit Utrecht zorg je er samen met collega’s voor dat de content aansluit bij deze doelgroepen.

• Je verzorgt eindredactie bij de aan jou toegewezen content en ziet toe op merkconsistentie en kwaliteit.
• Je voert regie op de planning van campagnes en projecten en bewaakt deadlines.
• Je vertaalt contentstrategie naar aansprekende formats en redactionele vormen die passen bij de doelgroep en het kanaal.
• Je zorgt voor samenhang tussen verschillende contentinitiatieven en signaleert kansen om ze slim te combineren.
• Je schrijft en redigeert teksten; van pakkende titels en social captions tot artikelen.
• Je maakt zelfstandig visuele en multimediale content en schakelt voor de complexere producties specialistische collega’s in.
• Je optimaliseert contentprocessen en draagt bij aan efficiënte workflows, aanpak en samenwerking.

Je maakt deel uit van het team Content en Digital, een team van ongeveer twintig professionals. Het team voert de regie op merkcontent zoals video’s, explainers, artikelen, podcasts, live streaming en social content en digitale kanalen zoals de corporate website UU.nl, intranet, social media, nieuwsbrieven en narrowcasting. Je werkt onder andere samen met een hoofdredacteur, channel managers, contentstrategen, data-analisten, grafisch vormgevers, een projectmanager, redacteuren en AV-makers. Met positionerende content en campagnes stellen we de directie Communicatie in staat om de merk- en communicatiedoelstellingen van de Universiteit Utrecht te realiseren.

Medewerker Salarisadministratie

Je verwerkt salarismutaties en controleert gegevens in SAP op juistheid en volledigheid. Je beantwoordt vragen van collega’s over de salarisverwerking en past wet- en regelgeving correct toe. Daarnaast draag je bij aan het verbeteren en automatiseren van onze HR- en salarisprocessen.

Jouw werkzaamheden:

• verwerken van salarismutaties in SAP;
• controleren van gegevens op juistheid en volledigheid;
• uitvoeren van proefberekeningen;
• beantwoorden van vragen over salarisverwerking van collega’s en leidinggevenden;
• toepassen van wet- en regelgeving, cao’s en interne afspraken;
• opstellen van rapportages;
• bijdragen aan de digitalisering en automatisering van HR- en salarisprocessen;
• signaleren van knelpunten in processen en aandragen van verbetervoorstellen.

Postdoc: Co-creating Shared Narratives for Sustainable Sediment Management

The aim of the WadSED project is to develop the urgently needed system understanding, data analysis tools, and forecasting models for science and expert users, and co-create common ground among stakeholders for future-proof coastal management.

One the project outcomes is to explore and co-develop narratives and conceptual models that show development of the basins and estuaries under SLR and human interference with specific attention for the sediment budget and habitat development.

As a postdoctoral researcher you will organize and facilitate the participatory process to co-develop these shared narratives and conceptual models for sustainable sediment management. This will be done for two case studies, namely Western Scheldt and Wadden Sea. To facilitate knowledge exchange and the learning process, interactive workshops will be organized on location (Western Scheldt and Wadden Sea) to enhance science-society interactions.

Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of the postdoctoral researcher are to engage with the project team members and the participating experts and stakeholders for both case studies to coordinate, facilitate and monitor the co-creation process to develop shared narratives and conceptual model for sustainable sediment management.

This will be achieved through:

• Designing and organizing a deliberative and participatory approach together with the WadSED team members (specifically UU and HVHL).
• Facilitating and monitoring the co-creation process with experts and stakeholders in Western Scheldt and Wadden Sea.
• Applying a research for policy cycle strategy to co-create new conceptual models with academic scholars, experts, stakeholders and policy makers.
• Facilitating knowledge exchange between researchers, experts, stakeholders and policymakers through stakeholder workshops.
• Disseminating best practices via communication strategies that target experts, policy makers, and the public.

The selected candidate is expected to contribute to the above-mentioned tasks in collaboration with the rest of the WadSED team members.