The University of Vienna is a community of almost 11,000 individuals, including approximately 7,700 academic staff members, who passionately pursue answers to the profound questions that shape our future. They represent individuals driven by curiosity and a relentless pursuit of excellence. With us, they find the space to try things out and unfold their potential. Are you inspired by their passion and determination? We are currently seeking a/an
University assistant predoctoral
53 Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy
Job vacancy starting: 04/01/2026 | Working hours: 30,00 | Classification CBA: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc)
Limited contract until:
Job ID: 5219
The Department of Geography and Regional Research is part of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy. It is the largest and oldest Geography department in Austria and ranked as no. 1 in German-speaking countries and as no. 28 worldwide. The department offers scientific degrees in the bachelor program, three master programs, a teacher education program, a PhD program as well as in the faculty-arching master program in “Environmental Sciences”. Details on the Department can be accessed on http://geographie.univie.ac.at/en/home/.
The position is one out of four PhD’s; all embedded in the University of Vienna’s research Platform STRENGTH: Strengthening Resilience and Preparedness to Prevent and React to Emerging Socio-Natural Hazards and Risks. It is assigned to the research group SPATIAL DATA SCIENCE AND GEOCOMMUNICATION. Our research group works on geographic knowledge representation both using symbolic knowledge engineering approaches such as ontologies and knowledge graphs, as well as (spatial) representation learning methods from the broader field of GeoAI.
The announced position is entitled “AI methods and techniques for hazards and risk assessment to support decision making” and embedded at the interface of research data management (RDM), knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR), geographic artificial intelligence (GeoAI) on the one hand and the study of natural hazards and risks both from the viewpoint of Environmental Psychology as well as Physical Geography on the other hand. Hence, students will have the opportunity to apply their interests in symbolic, neural, or neurosymbolic GeoAI to co-develop a disaster forensic tool utilizing key social and natural concepts and state-of-the-art technology.
You will be part of the Vienna International School of Earth and Space Sciences (https://visess.univie.ac.at/).
Areas of work:
The employment aims to deepen and extend the professional and scientific education targeting a PhD. Your areas of work include:
- Writing a dissertation
- Submitting a dissertation agreement (outline) within 12-18 months of project start
- Contribution to scientific studies and international publications
- Conference travel to present (PhD) research
- Travel to field studies (as part of the disaster task force)
- Involvement in international collaborations
- Support in acquiring third-party funded projects
- Involvement in / Independent teaching based on the collective bargaining agreement
- Support in Bachelor’s and Master’s student supervision and examination activities
- Participation in evaluation activities and in quality assurance
- Integration into the research group and participation in administrative duties
Profil - Must Criteria:
- Graduate degree (by the time of project start) in Geoinformatics, Spatial Data Science, Geography or related disciplines. Please note that we are looking for a candidate with an interest in Geography and Geoinformatics/GIScience. For example, this could be demonstrated by a Master’s degree in Geoinformatics, GIScience, or Spatial Data Science with course work in geo-data processing and geography or a Master’s degree in Geography with significant course work in Geoinformatics, or other constellations, also including Environmental Psychology. For students primarily interested in either physical geography and geo-science (using GIS) or environmental psychology, we also offer separate positions in the same project
- Strong interest in ongoing research topics of the Spatial Data Science and GeoCommunication research group (e.g., knowledge graphs, geo-semantics, geo-research data management, various aspects of GeoAI (including, bias and alignment), geographic information retrieval, spatial cognition, and so on)
- Experience in technical skills such as Java, Python, Jupyter, Spatial Data Science software libraries
- Interest in co-developing an interactive disaster forensics toolkit, including web-mapping
- Interest and ability to work in interdisciplinary teams, particularly with Environmental Psychology and Physical Geography
- Fluency (e.g., C1 level) in English in word and writing with a willingness to work in an international team
- Being self-motivated and goal-oriented
- Being an excellent team player
Profil - Desired Criteria:
- Interest (or even background) in applying cognitive science principles to Geoinformatics and GeoAI ranging from vague cognitive regions, spatial cognition, geo-semantics, and so forth are a plus
- Skills in project management are a plus
- While the teaching load is low, good pedagogic teaching skills are a plus
- Linux and basic server administration skills are a plus
- Interest in geo-communication beyond mapping is a plus
- Prior publications and presentations are a plus
- Knowledge of OGC/W3C Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) are a plus
What we offer:
Inspiring working atmosphere: You will be part of one of the leading environmental psychology groups in Europe who currently research topics such as pro-environmental norms and behaviours, public understanding of and concern about potential environmental threats such as microplastics, forever chemicals, risk perception, risk communication, and nature connectedness as well as benefits of nature.
Internal further training & coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills, including statistical methods skills, on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.
Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3.776,10 (on a full-time basis) increases if we can credit professional experience.
Equal opportunities for all: We look forward to diverse life experiences and personalities in the team!
Work-Life-Balance: Our employees enjoy flexible working hours with opportunities for remote/hybrid work (from home within Austria, up to a certain extent, upon agreement), but as part of a close research team, multiple weekly in person meetings are required.
Good public transport connections: Your workplace will be right in the centre of beautiful Vienna (1st district, less than 5 minutes’ walk from Schottentor) and is easily accessible by public transport.
The employment duration is 4 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 4 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.
It is that easy to apply:
- Via our job portal / Apply now - button
If you have any questions, please contact:
Krzysztof Janowicz
krzysztof.janowicz@univie.ac.at
We look forward to new personalities in our team!
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We place particular emphasis on enhancing women’s representation among the academic and general university staff, particularly in leadership roles, and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.
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Application deadline: 02/16/2026
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