Doctoral researcher in geospatial visualization, serious gaming and sustainability transformations

The University of Helsinki, founded in 1640, is one of the world’s leading universities for multidisciplinary research. The university has an international academic community of 40,000 students and staff members. The University of Helsinki offers comprehensive services to its employees, including occupational health care and health insurance, sports facilities, and opportunities for professional development. The International Staff Services office assists employees from abroad with their transition to work and life in Finland.

The Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme (ECOENV) of the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences comprises roughly 60 researchers. The research programme is situated in the Viikki science park. The Human-Nature Transformations Research Group, situated within ECOENV, is led by Prof Christopher Raymond and comprises of approximately 10 researchers.  The research group invites applications for a

Doctoral researcher in geospatial visualization, serious gaming and sustainability transformations

Starting in March 2023, or as agreed with the candidate, the doctoral researcher will be offered up to 3-year fully funded contract.We are seeking a doctoral researcher to work within a project funded by Academy of Finland aiming to understand how trade-offs to sustainability transformations can be identified and unlocked through new forms of participatory tools and processes. The PhD project contributes to this overall goal by contributing new 3D visualisations and serious gaming techniques. The candidate is expected to benefit from and collaborate with other team members. The project team consists of researchers from University of Helsinki, Aalto University, Oulu University, University of Easter Finland, ETH Zurich and New School, New York.

Position description

The doctoral researcher will investigate how 3D visualisations and serious games can be used to help cities, industry and citizens identify and unlock trade-offs to sustainability transformation. The focus will be on transformations that support climate resilience and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, smooth and sustainable mobility and health and well-being in cities. The doctoral researcher will be encouraged to design their own research project within the scope of the overall project in collaboration with the PI. The successful candidate will be principally supervised by Prof. Christopher Raymond at the University of Helsinki and co-supervised by Professor Adrienne Gret-Regamey from ETH Zurich.  Five percent of working time will be devoted to teaching and supervising undergraduate students.

Working as the doctoral researcher

The doctoral researcher is expected to:

According to the system of the University of Helsinki, all doctoral researchers belong to a doctoral programme. The successful candidate will apply to theDoctoral Program in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (DENVI) .  For more information about our doctoral programmes and the requirements for conducting a doctoral degree, please visit: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research/doctoral-education .

Requirements and eligibility criteria

A successful candidate will have a Master’s degree in geospatial sciences, environmental sciences, computer science or a related field. The candidate should have scientific curiosity and a meticulous working attitude. Prior experience in 3D visualisation techniques and/or computer gaming software is desirable. The candidate should have good organization and time management skills and ability to work both independently and as part of a team. We expect excellent communication skills both verbally and written; our working language is English. We also expect all group members to contribute to an equitable and inclusive working environment. The University of Helsinki welcomes applicants from a variety of genders, linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Salary and benefits

The salary of doctoral researcher will be based on demand level 2, and later on levels 2 – 4, of the national salary system for the teaching and research staff of Finnish universities. The starting salary of the doctoral researcher will be ca. 2300-2700 euros/month (before taxes), depending on the appointees’ qualifications and experience. A trial period of 6 months will be applied.

The University of Helsinki offers comprehensive services to its employees, including occupational health care, support in access to high quality sports facilities, and vast opportunities for professional development. Finland is a member of the EU, has high quality free schooling (also in English), generous family benefits and healthcare, and was recently ranked as the best country in the world for expat families. The International Staff Services office assists employees from abroad with their transition to work and life in Finland. See more information about working at the University of Helsinki and living in Finland here .

How to apply

Please submit your application as a single pdf file, which includes the following documents in English:

• A motivation letter describing why you are the right person for this position (max. 2 pages)
• Curriculum vitae including list of publications (max. 2 pages)
• Names and contact details of two referees who are willing to provide a reference letter by separate request.

External applicants, please submit your application to the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the Apply Now button. Applicants who have a helsinki.fi username and a valid employment/grant/visitor contract at the University of Helsinki are requested to submit their application via the Employee login button.

Application deadline is 31st January 2023, 23:59 EET .

More information

For project and position related questions, please contact

For support with the recruitment system, please contact

• HR Specialist Harri Hamara, harri.hamara(at)helsinki.fi