Professor of Earth Sciences

Your job

In Europe, the main access portal for international solid earth-scientific data is provided by EPOS. EPOS Multi-Scale Laboratories (MSL) is one of the ten discipline groups in EPOS and is coordinated at Utrecht University. It comprises a European community of approximately 100 Earth scientific research laboratories with varying expertise. An important aim of EPOS MSL is to make solid Earth scientific lab data more FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). To that end, MSL researchers publish data at various data repositories across Europe, frequently under an ‘open access’ license (e.g. CC BY 4.0). While this ensures that data can in principle be re-used by others, data availability remains highly fragmented across Europe, i.e. difficult to find by potential users. Moreover, published data are often highly disparate, not standardized, and difficult to understand by non-experts, or to use for batch processing, or AI applications. 

In recent years, the EPOS MSL data catalogue was developed to make solid Earth scientific laboratory data, published in multiple repositories across Europe, centrally findable on a single website. Moreover, EPOS MSL actively coordinates development of best practices and standards, for Earth scientific lab data, aimed at making data easier to re-use.

The catalogue is developed using CKAN as a central storage for data publications, laboratories and data repositories information. Building upon this, a Laravel/PHP application has been developed to provide access to the data including the data catalogue itself and several webservices. Other tooling such as vocabulary management and data harvesting are also part of the Laravel application.

The main workflow functions as follows:

• custom harvesters gather metadata of relevant data publications at specific data repositories;
• metadata is harmonized and enriched before being stored in CKAN;
• presentation of enriched metadata in a structured, hierarchical form, for optimal findability of harvested data publications;
• aggregated metadata access is provided using webservices.

Notable other functionality:

• DataCite search query based on MSL terminology: Identifying MSL-relevant data publications, and where these are published;
• vocabulary describing MSL terminology accessible using web services and linked data formats.

As software engineer for EPOS Multi-Scale Laboratories you will contribute to:

• further development of the MSL data catalogue, and the related workflow and webservices outlined above;
• developing tooling to make MSL data more interoperable (e.g. harmonised data products, easy combination of data from multiple data publications);
• improving user experience, by making MSL data easier to explore interactively;
• designing the strategy to make MSL data more FAIR, together with a team consisting of researchers, data scientists/managers and project managers.

You will work alongside another software engineer involved in EPOS Multi-Scale Laboratories.

Your qualities

You are interested in the entire process of making solid earth scientific laboratory data more FAIR, and like to be involved in all steps to make this possible. You feel comfortable switching from proposing new ideas (e.g. on how to identify relevant data publications) or to write code for webservices.

The position requires:

• demonstrated experience working with Laravel;
• professional experience working in a software development team.

Considered advantages:

• search platforms and techniques (e.g. SOLR, Elasticsearch);
• software deployment (e.g. Docker);
• frontend development (e.g. HTML, CSS, JavaScript);
• experience with Python.

Our offer

• a position as a software engineer (0.8 - 1.0 FTE)  for two years, with potential for extension by another 1.5 years;
• a gross monthly salary between €3,378 and €4,227 (salary scale 10.0 - 10.5 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU)); 
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus; 
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU. 

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

About us

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences studies the Earth: from the Earth’s core to its surface, including man’s spatial and material utilisation of the Earth – always with a focus on sustainability and innovation. With 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty of Geosciences is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Human Geography & Spatial Planning, Physical Geography, and Sustainable Development.

The Department of Earth Sciences conducts teaching and research across the full range of the solid Earth and environmental Earth sciences, with activities in almost all areas of geology, geochemistry, geophysics, biogeology and hydrogeology. Our key research themes are Earth & Planetary Processes, Sustainable Use of the Subsurface, Planetary Health & Environment, and Climate & Life. The department hosts a highly international tenured staff of over 50 scientists and more than 110 PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers. We house or have access to a wide variety of world-class laboratories, among which are UU’s Electron Microscopy Centre, the Geolab, and the Earth Simulation Lab. We also have excellent High-Performance Computing facilities.

The department and its facilities are located at Utrecht Science Park. Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands with a population of nearly 360,000 and forms a hub in the middle of the country. Its historical city centre and its modern central station can easily be reached from the Science Park by public transport or by a 15-minute bicycle ride. Utrecht boasts beautiful canals with extraordinary wharf cellars housing cafés and terraces by the water, as well as a broad variety of shops and boutiques.

More information

For informal information about this position (not for application), please contact Dr Ronald Pijnenburg at r.p.j.pijnenburg@uu.nl.

Note that international candidates that need a visa/work permit for the Netherlands require at least four months processing time after selection and acceptance. This will be arranged with help of the International Service Desk (ISD) of our university. Finding appropriate housing in or near Utrecht is your own responsibility, but the ISD may be able to advise you therewith. In case of general questions about working and living in The Netherlands, please consult the Dutch Mobility Portal.

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University. Commercial response to this ad is not appreciated.

Apply now

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute.

To apply, please send your curriculum vitae, including a letter of motivation, via the ‘apply now’ button.

We aim for a quick selection procedure after the deadline and aim to start the position per 1 September 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The application deadline is 23 June 2025.