PhD in a related field

PhD position at the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, within the ERC-funded GeoTrAnsQData project. The project develops a GeoQA method that converts questions into executable geo-analytical workflows, turning geodata into new answer maps. The PhD focuses on developing a semantic model of diverse geodata sources in a map repository, enabling reasoning about their analytical purposes and provenance using concepts of geographic information. The candidate will apply symbolic and sub-symbolic AI methods, knowledge graphs, and NLP to scale modeling across large geodata repositories, contribute to a corpus of geo-analytical scenarios, collaborate with other researchers, and evaluate the framework through user-centred scenarios in spatial-planning or environmental-assessment contexts. /nLocation: Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands. /nApplication deadline: 31 December 2025. /nFirst round interviews: February or March 2026. /nAimed starting date: 1 May 2026.