PhD – Climate-Resilient Stormwater Management with Data-Driven and Nature-Based Solutions- Norway

A PhD position in Climate-Resilient Urban Stormwater Management with Data-Driven and Nature-Based Solutions is available at the Department of Building and Environmental Technology at the Faculty of Science and Technology.

• The PhD position is for a period of 3 years.
• Desired start date: 1. November 2025

Urban stormwater systems are increasingly under pressure from climate change, urban densification, and aging infrastructure. Conventional drainage networks are not designed to cope with the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events predicted under future climate scenarios, leading to growing risks of urban flooding, water pollution, and infrastructure damage. This is a particularly urgent concern in Nordic countries such as Norway, where climate projections indicate more intense rainfall and wetter conditions in many cities. There is a pressing need to develop adaptive, robust, and resilient solutions for stormwater management that leverage modern technologies and sustainable practices.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to advance urban stormwater engineering through data-driven and nature-based approaches, including Low Impact Development (LID) practices (e.g., green roofs, rain gardens), with a specific focus on urban catchments. The research will place a strong emphasis on machine learning, optimization techniques, and climate change scenario analysis. The successful candidate will contribute to the development of intelligent models and decision-support tools that enhance the performance, resilience, and sustainability of stormwater management.

The research will focus on integrating AI and machine learning with hydraulic-hydrologic modeling, urban planning strategies, and nature-based infrastructure to better predict and manage stormwater dynamics under climate-related uncertainty. It will also explore how to optimize design and operation strategies to adapt to future climate extremes.

Duties

• Conduct a comprehensive literature review on data-driven and nature-based stormwater management.
• Analyze extreme rainfall scenarios using downscaled climate projections under recent emissions pathways (e.g., SSP-RCP scenarios), combined with observed runoff and flood data.
• Develop machine learning models to predict urban flooding and stormwater responses under climate change conditions.
• Integrate hydraulic-hydrologic modeling and surrogate models (e.g., Bayesian Networks) to simulate stormwater behavior under future scenarios.
• Apply optimization techniques to design and evaluate nature-based and hybrid stormwater solutions.
• Assess resilience and co-benefits of smart, sustainable stormwater strategies.
• Collaborate with stakeholders and utilities in Norway to apply methods in real-world case studies.
• Publish findings in high-quality peer-reviewed journals and present at conferences.

Requirements

• A Master’s degree or equivalent in Civil Engineering, Water Engineering, Hydrology, Wastewater/Environmental Engineering, or a closely related field. Foreign degrees must correspond with the admission criteria for the PhD program. Candidates who submit their MSc thesis by the application deadline may be considered.
• Proficiency in both written and oral English in correspondence with the admission criteria for the PhD program.
• Personal suitability and motivation for the position.

The following experiences and skills will be emphasized:

• Solid understanding of urban hydrology, stormwater management, and climate adaptation strategies — familiarity with Nordic climate and hydrological conditions is an advantage
• Experience with machine learning models and hydrologic/hydraulic modeling
• Strong familiarity with tools such as SWMM and GIS
• Proficiency in programming and data analysis (e.g., Python, R, MATLAB)
• Background or interest in nature-based solutions and optimization techniques
• Experience in working with climate model outputs and scenario analysis is an advantage
• A proven record of scientific writing and publications in peer-reviewed journals is an advantage

Applicants who have recently graduated with excellent results may be given preference.

Personal qualities:

• Ability to work independently and motivated to collaborate in an interdisciplinary team
• Strong communication skills (English required; Norwegian is considered an advantage)
• Excellent social and collaborative skills
• Strong problem-solving abilities and a proactive approach to research challenges

Benefits

• Salary 550 800 NOK per annum. For exceptionally well qualified candidates a higher salary may be considered.
• Government pay scale position code 1017 PhD Research Fellow.

Organization/Company –Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Research field – Engineering.

Research profile – First Stage Researcher (R1).

Country –Norway.

Application Deadline – 11 Aug 2025 – 23:59 (Europe/Oslo).

More information: Euraxess.