Postdoc Icy Moons and their Oceans

Job description

We are pleased to announce one posdtoc position within the newly awarded ERC Advanced Grant LeakingOceans. This interdisciplinary project aims to reveal how the hidden oceans of icy moons, such as Enceladus, Europa and Ganymede, interact with their surfaces. Although these oceans are unreachable today, they leak through the moons’ icy crust, providing natural access to their composition and dynamics. Previous missions have shown that subsurface oceans reach the surface through several processes, and LeakingOceans aims to understand, quantify and detect these leaks and the ocean materials they deliver.

About the LeakingOceans ERC Project
Most oceans in our Solar System lie beneath kilometres of ice. On Enceladus, one moon of Saturn, observations have revealed that its subsurface ocean escapes through geysers or plumes via crevasses in the icy shell, reaching the exosphere. These plumes, composed of icy grains and water vapour, were extensively studied during Cassini flybys. Analyses revealed that the grains are salty and contain complex organic molecules, indicating that Enceladus’ ocean holds key ingredients for life, such as water, salts and organics. Europa, a moon of Jupiter, may also host plume activity, although the evidence is less certain. Hubble observations suggest intermittent, smaller plumes. However, surface fractures on Europa indicate that its ocean can reach and spill onto the surface. Together, plumes and cracks offer exceptional opportunities to study these hidden oceans.

Recent JWST observations have revealed fine spatial and spectral variations in icy moon surfaces. For example, the CO₂ band on Ganymede and Europa appears in multiple components, indicating diverse structural ice states that could be linked to a subsurface origin. These features cannot be interpreted with existing laboratory data, as it is unknown if they belong to the microscopic (molecular level) or macroscopic (icy grains) state of the ice. This highlights the urgent need for experiments that reproduce ice formation and processes occurring on icy moons.

The goal of LeakingOceans is to determine the efficiencies, mechanisms and spectroscopic signatures of processes that bring oceanic material to moon surfaces. By combining laboratory experiments, quantum mechanical and radiative transfer modelling, to compare with JWST data, this project will provide tools to identify where and how oceans leak to the surface, supporting the search for habitable environments beyond Earth.

About the Postdoc Position — Icy moons' surfaces in laboratory
This postdoctoral position focuses on the design, construction and scientific exploitation of a novel frozen droplet generator, a key experimental setup within the LeakingOceans project (building on Häusler et al. 2018). The goal is to produce well-calibrated frozen icy grain analogues on a microchip perforated with hemispherical cavities of defined sizes, allowing deposition of liquid droplets of controlled dimensions. Reflectance spectra from well-calibrated icy grain analogues submitted to different conditions (temperature of formation and fluctuations) will serve as spectral references for interpreting JWST observations and supporting future JUICE mission data analysis.

The postdoc will work in close collaboration with the PhD and Postdoc students of the LeakingOceans team and will contribute to the:

• Design and construction of the frozen droplet generator.
• Execution of experiments producing size-controlled frozen droplets under icy moon conditions.
• Acquisition and analysis of reflectance spectra to build a grain spectral reference library.
• Comparison of laboratory spectra with JWST and JUICE observational data.

Job requirements
We are looking for a motivated researcher with:

• A PhD in experimental physics, planetary science, astrochemistry, physical chemistry, or a closely related field.
• Hands-on experience with vacuum systems, cryogenic equipment and optical setups.
• Experience with infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
• Familiarity with icy moons science, planetary ices, or astrochemistry is a strong asset.
• Experience with instrument development or laboratory setup design is highly valued.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Aerospace Engineering
The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is a leading international community where innovation in aerospace meets global challenges. Our support and scientific staff, including PhD candidates, postdocs, and students, largely work together on three main themes: the energy transition, sustainable aerospace, and safety and security, with the aim of tackling climate change and contributing to the independence and security of Europe.

When you join us, you become part of a diverse, collaborative, and forward-thinking environment where your ideas and perspectives are valued. Our work extends beyond the lab—into field labs, innovation hubs, and partnerships with other faculties, research institutes, governments, and industry, both locally and globally.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming workplace, assisted by an active Diversity & Inclusion team. This includes tangible support such as funding for extra personnel for family and caregiving responsibilities, mentoring programmes, and initiatives that promote cultural exchange and integration.

You don’t just join our faculty, you join a community where you can thrive, grow, and help shape the future of aerospace.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering.

Postdoc Icy Moons and their Oceans

Job description

We are pleased to announce one posdtoc position within the newly awarded ERC Advanced Grant LeakingOceans. This interdisciplinary project aims to reveal how the hidden oceans of icy moons, such as Enceladus, Europa and Ganymede, interact with their surfaces. Although these oceans are unreachable today, they leak through the moons’ icy crust, providing natural access to their composition and dynamics. Previous missions have shown that subsurface oceans reach the surface through several processes, and LeakingOceans aims to understand, quantify and detect these leaks and the ocean materials they deliver.

About the LeakingOceans ERC Project
Most oceans in our Solar System lie beneath kilometres of ice. On Enceladus, one moon of Saturn, observations have revealed that its subsurface ocean escapes through geysers or plumes via crevasses in the icy shell, reaching the exosphere. These plumes, composed of icy grains and water vapour, were extensively studied during Cassini flybys. Analyses revealed that the grains are salty and contain complex organic molecules, indicating that Enceladus’ ocean holds key ingredients for life, such as water, salts and organics. Europa, a moon of Jupiter, may also host plume activity, although the evidence is less certain. Hubble observations suggest intermittent, smaller plumes. However, surface fractures on Europa indicate that its ocean can reach and spill onto the surface. Together, plumes and cracks offer exceptional opportunities to study these hidden oceans.

Recent JWST observations have revealed fine spatial and spectral variations in icy moon surfaces. For example, the CO₂ band on Ganymede and Europa appears in multiple components, indicating diverse structural ice states that could be linked to a subsurface origin. These features cannot be interpreted with existing laboratory data, as it is unknown if they belong to the microscopic (molecular level) or macroscopic (icy grains) state of the ice. This highlights the urgent need for experiments that reproduce ice formation and processes occurring on icy moons.

The goal of LeakingOceans is to determine the efficiencies, mechanisms and spectroscopic signatures of processes that bring oceanic material to moon surfaces. By combining laboratory experiments, quantum mechanical and radiative transfer modelling, to compare with JWST data, this project will provide tools to identify where and how oceans leak to the surface, supporting the search for habitable environments beyond Earth.

About the Postdoc Position — Icy moons' surfaces in laboratory
This postdoctoral position focuses on the design, construction and scientific exploitation of a novel frozen droplet generator, a key experimental setup within the LeakingOceans project (building on Häusler et al. 2018). The goal is to produce well-calibrated frozen icy grain analogues on a microchip perforated with hemispherical cavities of defined sizes, allowing deposition of liquid droplets of controlled dimensions. Reflectance spectra from well-calibrated icy grain analogues submitted to different conditions (temperature of formation and fluctuations) will serve as spectral references for interpreting JWST observations and supporting future JUICE mission data analysis.

The postdoc will work in close collaboration with the PhD and Postdoc students of the LeakingOceans team and will contribute to the:

• Design and construction of the frozen droplet generator.
• Execution of experiments producing size-controlled frozen droplets under icy moon conditions.
• Acquisition and analysis of reflectance spectra to build a grain spectral reference library.
• Comparison of laboratory spectra with JWST and JUICE observational data.

Job requirements
We are looking for a motivated researcher with:

• A PhD in experimental physics, planetary science, astrochemistry, physical chemistry, or a closely related field.
• Hands-on experience with vacuum systems, cryogenic equipment and optical setups.
• Experience with infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
• Familiarity with icy moons science, planetary ices, or astrochemistry is a strong asset.
• Experience with instrument development or laboratory setup design is highly valued.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Aerospace Engineering
The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is a leading international community where innovation in aerospace meets global challenges. Our support and scientific staff, including PhD candidates, postdocs, and students, largely work together on three main themes: the energy transition, sustainable aerospace, and safety and security, with the aim of tackling climate change and contributing to the independence and security of Europe.

When you join us, you become part of a diverse, collaborative, and forward-thinking environment where your ideas and perspectives are valued. Our work extends beyond the lab—into field labs, innovation hubs, and partnerships with other faculties, research institutes, governments, and industry, both locally and globally.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming workplace, assisted by an active Diversity & Inclusion team. This includes tangible support such as funding for extra personnel for family and caregiving responsibilities, mentoring programmes, and initiatives that promote cultural exchange and integration.

You don’t just join our faculty, you join a community where you can thrive, grow, and help shape the future of aerospace.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering.

PhD Position Visual Data Efficiency

Job description

This PhD position is about fundamental visual recognition. It is in the CV lab of the PRB section, INSY department, TU Delft. The research is about understanding-based research for data efficient visual recognition.

Current models use hundred millions of images; where it is unclear where all this data comes from. The data is in the hands of large companies, who do not share their data. These companies have huge resources to process this data. This is problematic for the long tail of companies and universities doing research and working with visual recognition models, because they neither have such amounts of data available, nor do they have the computational resources to process this data.

The goal of this 4-year PhD project is to let current models use less data. With less data we can better curate it; that means that we can much easier control for important societal challenges such as privacy, copyright, energy use, and biases in the data.

The candidates need to have, or be in the process of finishing, a MSc degree with ample demonstrable experience in doing research through a research-oriented project/thesis done in the field of visual recognition with a clear focus on understanding and/or efficiency.

Include evidence of doing understanding-based research in your application: please include a "storyline" of your research project as described here: https://jvgemert.github.io/storyline.pdf

Job requirements

• Msc degree in fundamental visual recognition: understanding and/or efficient deep learning

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.

PhD Position Systemic Risk in Climate-Sensitive Housing Markets

Job description
This 4-year fully funded PhD position is part of the ERC Consolidator project “Systemic physical climate risk in complex adaptive economies” (SPHINX). The SPHINX-research program is made possible thanks to a 2-million-euro grant from the European Research Council.

Background:

Globally, climate change already manifests via physical risks – damages from floods, storms, wildfires, heatwaves, droughts, and sea-level rise. Concerns are rising that these risks may become systemic, when local damages to one element cannot be contained and adversely affect the entire socio-economic system. Usually, physical climate risk assessments overlay hazard probability, exposure and vulnerability. These future damage estimates linearly extrapolate historic data, assuming that markets efficiently capitalize full information about climate risks and adjust gradually, economic actors have perfect future insight, and socio-economic systems will react to and price unprecedented climate-induced hazards as they did in the past. This approach is criticized for underestimating true costs of climate change (e.g., at just 1-3% of GDP loss even under severe scenarios), impeding climate action. In contrast, analysis of systemic risks embraces complex interactions among elements/agents, adjusting expectations, mechanisms of contagion dynamics, feedbacks, and non-linear tipping. The SPHINX research program aims to fundamentally advance simulation methods and consolidate novel data to understand how systemic physical climate risks emerge in the socio-economic system, and to explore strategies to curtail their spiraling costs. The project focuses on Europe, with a detailed analysis of three selected case-study regions. Methodologically, SPHINX embraces five pillars, ranging from data collecting to agent-based and computable general equilibrium modeling led by five team members. The first three pillars concern the development of computational agent-based models to explore three different channels of risk propagation. The current PhD position specifically focuses on advancing agent-based housing market models.

Job description:
The successful candidate will work within the SPHINX research team to explore interactions between households and banks in the presence of increasing climate physical risks. To explore price dynamics in climate-sensitive areas, the candidate will develop a set of agent-based housing market models supported by theory and data for a range of scales (from urban to regional). During this 4-year-long project, the PhD student will build up on the latest progress in housing market agent-based modeling (RHEA, Bank of England, etc.) and advance it by introducing adaptive price expectations of households and climate-aware policies of the financial sector (banks, insurance). Synthesizing knowledge on the socio-behavioral and economic mechanisms through which housing markets capture hazard risks and on possible cross-scale risk transfers will be essential here. This modeling effort will benefit from the behavioral data on expectations elicited via tailored household surveys (carried out by another team member) and other spatial and physical climate risk data. The goal of this agent-based modeling is to identify conditions under which risk contagion causes housing to become stranded assets and contributes to climate gentrification, with corresponding policy levers to avert these systemic failures.

Job requirements
A candidate should ideally have:

• MSc in Computational Science, Geography, Spatial Economics, Environmental Studies, or Engineering & Policy Analysis
• Knowledge of a programming language (Python, Julia, etc) and training in any of the simulation methods
• Experience with (statistical) data analysis
• Previous experience with agent-based modeling or any type of spatial modeling is beneficial
• Ability to work with spatial data/GIS is an asset
• Domain knowledge in the field of coupled social-environmental systems, climate change or global environmental change in general is an advantage
• Solid problem-solving skills and capacity to take the initiative;
• Fluent written and spoken English. For more details, please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements: https://www.tudelft.nl/onderwijs/opleidingen/phd/admission. Dutch is not obligatory; TU Delft offers opportunities to learn the language if desired.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Technology, Policy and Management
The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.

PhD position on Ecodesign and Mitigation of Rebound Effects

Job description

TU Delft’s faculty of Industrial Design Engineering has an opening for a PhD candidate in the Design for Sustainability section, who will contribute to the research on mitigation of rebound effects through design.

Your challenge: Eco-design interventions do not always deliver their promised environmental benefits. Rebound effects, i.e. systemic responses that partially or fully offset environmental gains, can undermine even the best-intentioned designs. Beyond well-known economic rebounds, such as increased consumption following energy savings, rebound effects can emerge through the interaction of behavioural, social, technological, infrastructural, and systemic dynamics. These effects often propagate across multiple scales, from individual user practices to broader societal transitions. Yet such interactions remain poorly understood. As a result, designers currently lack the conceptual frameworks and practical tools needed to recognise recurring rebound patterns, anticipate unintended consequences, and intervene more strategically at multiple levels of the system.

Your research: You will build a deeper understanding of rebound effects in eco-design and develop practical methods to help designers recognize, predict and mitigate them. Starting with a systematic review of documented rebound cases, you will map the mechanisms behind rebounds and categorize their patterns. In-depth studies of current eco-design cases will uncover contextual factors and the interrelation of different rebound effects. Building on these insights, you will develop and refine a predictive method together with designers and stakeholders in real-world case studies, in collaboration with European companies. For this, the PhD includes two international secondments (2-3 months), providing direct exposure to industrial design practice and real world constraints.

This PhD position is part of the academic network working on Ecodesign, an international research and training initiative. The network aims to advance digital and Ecodesign methodologies that enable circular economy practices at an industrial scale, in line with European sustainability and design objectives.

The research will be carried out in the Design for Sustainability section, part of TU Delft's Department of Sustainable Design Engineering. Our research focuses on sustainable and circular product design throughout the entire product life cycle. It offers a multidisciplinary environment where researchers work toward a circular economy transition, developing design methods that enable strategies like reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling. The section's work spans design activities, material selection, implementation of emerging technologies, societal impact, and sustainability assessment, frequently in close partnership with industry and public organizations.

Job requirements

• Master degree in Industrial Design, Industrial Ecology, or a closely related field. Clear affinity with design engineering is required if you don’t have a design engineering background.
• Demonstrated strong interest in design for sustainability and/or circular economy
• Scientific writing skills and effective communication in English, both orally and in writing.
• Motivated to collaborate in a multidisciplinary environment and to participate in (mandatory) international secondments.
• International mobility rule: To foster international exchange, at the time of recruitment, you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work or studies) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding 01/10/2026.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Industrial Design Engineering
Matching the evolution of people with the speed of the revolution of technology. This is the focus of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE). Delft designers act as a bridge between advances in technology and the needs of people, organisations and society to create products, services and systems with purpose.

IDE is a leader in design research across the application areas of mobility, sustainability and health, as well as its development of design tools and methods. A 350-strong research team and over 2,000 students work together in our inspiring hall, labs and studios.

In close cooperation with industry, the public sector and NGOs we rehearse possible futures in research and education to design for a complex future.
Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.