Doctoral Researcher in Spatial Modelling of Greenery Exposure

The Digital Geography Lab is an interdisciplinary research group at the Faculty of Science, focused on spatial big data analytics on a human scale to support the planning of fair and sustainable societies. Most of the Lab’s research uses people’s mobility and accessibility as a tool to understand the interactions between people, and people and their environment. As a doctoral researcher, you will benefit from the stimulating research environment of the University, Faculty of Science, Department of Geosciences and Geography, and the research lab that emphasises scientific rigor, creative and critical thinking, and mutual support and respect.

GREENTRAVEL (Greener Travel Environments for Everyone – from measured wellbeing impacts to Big Data analytics) is an ERC funded project that will operate within the Digital Geography Lab for 5 years, from the year 2023 onwards. The project team of five researchers will aim at producing further knowledge on the associations between green travel environments and wellbeing. Furthermore, they will inspect how equitably good travel environments are available for urban populations during the daily trips. The project will apply a broad variety of advanced methods including spatial big data analytics, experimentation in Virtual Reality and computer vision to produce knowledge that can advance the quality and sustainability of urban environments for all. The work is carried out in several cities. It starts from the Helsinki region and later expands to several other European cities including London and Berlin.

Faculty of Science invites applications for a
DOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SPATIAL MODELLING OF GREENERY EXPOSURE
starting from February 2023, or as agreed. The PhD researcher will be offered up to 4-year fully funded contract.

Position description

The doctoral researcher will focus on analysing people’s everyday mobilities in urban environments and their exposure to greenery during these travels. During the PhD process, the researchers will grow to be an expert of travel-related greenery exposure modelling using mobile big data and seasonally sensitive greenery information, from the perspective of wellbeing and spatial and social equality. The doctoral researcher will have a key role in developing relevant human scale greenery measures, analysing population level mobility patterns using big data, developing the novel Green Paths tool to identify alternative routes for people and/or to map the spatial and temporal distribution of greenery exposure during everyday travels in the study cities. The candidate may also participate in the ex-situ and in-situ experimentation designed to gain understanding on the association between travel environment greenery and wellbeing. Overall, the doctoral researcher is welcomed to take part in the Lab activities at large, and they may teach and supervise students in the Geography Master’s Programme.

Working as the doctoral researcher

The doctoral researcher will have two broad level goals:

advancing the GREENTRAVEL project activities together with the rest of the project team and

conducting doctoral studies and research work leading to a completed PhD thesis at the University of Helsinki within the 4-year employment period. The detailed focus of the PhD project will be designed in collaboration with the candidate, and they will have a possibility to pursue either a methodologically orientated or more theory driven PhD, within the context of the GREENTRAVEL project.

According to the system of the University of Helsinki, all doctoral researchers belong to a doctoral programme. 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

The doctoral researcher should have an MSc in geography, geoinformatics or urban planning or a related field, and be equipped with scientific curiosity and eagerness to learn more. The doctoral researcher should have advanced skills in spatial analysis, GIS, and Mobile Big Data and statistical analysis. The candidate should have a proven capability of digesting scientific information and producing scientific text. We value good communication skills preferably in several project languages (English, Finnish, German and Spanish), as well as the ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary international working community.

The University of Helsinki welcomes applicants from a variety of genders, linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Salary and benefits

The starting salary of the doctoral researcher will be ca. 2300-2700 euros/month, depending on the appointees’ qualifications and experience. 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.

How to apply

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

• A cover letter presenting the motivation and the research interests of the applicant
• Curriculum vitae, including a description of the methodological skills (max. 3 pages)
• List of publications (max. 2 pages)
• Other relevant documentation, such as scientific portfolio, Msc thesis or other information about MSc studies
• Names and contact details of one to three referees

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.

We will start processing the applications on the November 7th, 2022. The position will be filled once a suitable candidate is found. Deadline for applications is November 20th, 2022.

More information?

For questions project and position related questions, please contact

• Professor Tuuli Toivonen (tuuli.toivonen@helsinki.fi, or @TuuliToivonen on Twitter).

For experiences on the Digital Geography Lab as a work place, feel free to contact any of the lab members: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/digital-geography-lab/people-contact.