PhD Position in Geography (Utrecht University)

Institution: Utrecht University Faculty: Faculty of Geosciences Department: Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning Project: ERC-funded GeoTrAnsQData Location: Utrecht, Netherlands Start date: 1 May 2026 (aimed) Application deadline: 31 January 2026 Employment type: Full-time (38–40 hours/week) Duration: Initially 1 year, extendable to 4 years (to complete PhD) Salary: €3,059 – €3,881 gross per month (full-time, CAO NU P-scale) Project Overview The PhD focuses on understanding, structuring, and formalizing geo-analytical questions using hybrid AI approaches. Key aspects: Transforming natural language geographic questions into executable geo-analytical workflows Using knowledge graphs and AI to enable scalable, map-based reasoning and reuse of geospatial data Exploring hybrid AI approaches, including symbolic reasoning and Large Language Models (LLMs) Developing linguistic and conceptual models for linking questions to geospatial data and workflows Key tasks include: Building and annotating a corpus of geo-analytical questions and their associated purposes Developing models of geo-analytical purposes and corresponding question grammars Conducting user studies on geo-analytical question formulation Formalising spatial question types using a purpose-driven taxonomy Developing hybrid question parsing pipelines using NLP and formal semantic representations Collaborating with other PhD candidates, a postdoc, and a technical assistant Candidate Profile Required qualifications: (Near-)completed MSc in AI, Computational Linguistics, NLP, GeoInformatics, Geography, Geoscience, or related field Experience with natural language processing (NLP), language modeling, grammatical models, or question-answering (QA) Strong interest in maps and geographic information Programming skills in Python and relevant NLP libraries (spaCy, Hugging Face Transformers) Good English communication skills Interest in interdisciplinary collaboration Desirable qualities: Conceptual modeling, knowledge representation, knowledge graphs Working Environment & Benefits Collaborative research within ERC-funded GeoTrAnsQData project Part of the Faculty of Geosciences (3,400 students, 720 staff) Attractive fringe benefits: holiday pay, end-of-year bonus, pension scheme, parental leave Professional development, sports and cultural opportunities Inclusive and diverse working environment Application Instructions Required documents: Curriculum vitae (CV) Letter of motivation Application method: Via the Utrecht University recruitment portal only Contact person: Dr Simon Scheider — s.scheider@uu.nl First round of interviews: February or March 2026 If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Physicaloxy

Institution: Utrecht University
Faculty: Faculty of Geosciences
Department: Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning
Project: ERC-funded GeoTrAnsQData
Location: Utrecht, Netherlands
Start date: 1 May 2026 (aimed)
Application deadline: 31 January 2026
Employment type: Full-time (38–40 hours/week)
Duration: Initially 1 year, extendable to 4 years (to complete PhD)
Salary: €3,059 – €3,881 gross per month (full-time, CAO NU P-scale)

Project Overview

The PhD focuses on understanding, structuring, and formalizing geo-analytical questions using hybrid AI approaches. Key aspects:

Transforming natural language geographic questions into executable geo-analytical workflows
Using knowledge graphs and AI to enable scalable, map-based reasoning and reuse of geospatial data
Exploring hybrid AI approaches, including symbolic reasoning and Large Language Models (LLMs)
Developing linguistic and conceptual models for linking questions to geospatial data and workflows

Key tasks include:

Building and annotating a corpus of geo-analytical questions and their associated purposes
Developing models of geo-analytical purposes and corresponding question grammars
Conducting user studies on geo-analytical question formulation
Formalising spatial question types using a purpose-driven taxonomy
Developing hybrid question parsing pipelines using NLP and formal semantic representations
Collaborating with other PhD candidates, a postdoc, and a technical assistant

Candidate Profile

Required qualifications:

(Near-)completed MSc in AI, Computational Linguistics, NLP, GeoInformatics, Geography, Geoscience, or related field
Experience with natural language processing (NLP), language modeling, grammatical models, or question-answering (QA)
Strong interest in maps and geographic information
Programming skills in Python and relevant NLP libraries (spaCy, Hugging Face Transformers)
Good English communication skills
Interest in interdisciplinary collaboration

Desirable qualities:

Conceptual modeling, knowledge representation, knowledge graphs

Working Environment & Benefits

Collaborative research within ERC-funded GeoTrAnsQData project
Part of the Faculty of Geosciences (3,400 students, 720 staff)
Attractive fringe benefits: holiday pay, end-of-year bonus, pension scheme, parental leave
Professional development, sports and cultural opportunities
Inclusive and diverse working environment

Application Instructions

Required documents:

Curriculum vitae (CV)
Letter of motivation

Application method: Via the Utrecht University recruitment portal only
Contact person: Dr Simon Scheider — s.scheider@uu.nl
First round of interviews: February or March 2026

If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Physicaloxy

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