Postdoc: Flood Damage Modeling & Early-Warning Impact

University of Amsterdam; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 41,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

29 days' holiday

ABP pension

Open UvA lectures for credits

reimbursement of commuting expenses

Job summary

The University of Amsterdam is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to improve damage functions for buildings in the Netherlands and quantify the effectiveness of early-warning and building-back-better strategies in reducing insured losses. You will work within FIRM, a multidisciplinary research programme in Amsterdam.

The role involves developing new observed-damages datasets, modelling flood risk, and evaluating experiments, with supervision from UvA and sector partners.

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field and strong analytical skills.
• Experience with statistical modelling and regression analysis applied to damage or loss data.
• Programming experience (Python or R) and large datasets handling.
• Ability to design and evaluate field experiments or quasi-experimental studies.
• Strong written and oral communication, ability to collaborate with stakeholders.
• Fluency in English; Dutch is an asset.
• Independence and drive to manage a focused two-year research project.

Responsibilities

• Designing and implementing data collection protocols for flood damage observations in collaboration with Nationale-Nederlanden and the Dutch Association of Insurers.
• Deriving improved damage functions for residential buildings under extreme precipitation.
• Quantifying risk reduction potential and cost-effectiveness of building-back-better measures at the object level.
• Designing, conducting and evaluating early-warning experiments.
• Presenting at international conferences and publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
• Contributing to teaching activities (approx. 20% time), including tutorials and supervision of Master’s theses.

Skills

Statistical modelling

Python or R

Data analysis

Written & verbal communication

Independence & drive

English proficiency

Education

PhD (completed or to be completed before Sep 2026) in Civil Engineering, Hydrology, Actuarial Science, Econometrics, Applied Statistics or related field

Job description

The University of Amsterdam is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to improve damage functions for buildings in the Netherlands and quantify the effectiveness of early-warning and building-back-better strategies in reducing insured losses. You will work within FIRM, a multidisciplinary research programme in Amsterdam.

The role involves developing new observed-damages datasets, modelling flood risk, and evaluating experiments, with supervision from UvA and sector partners.