King's College London

About us

The available postdoctoral position will be based in the Geography Department at King’s College London, which is ranked 6th in the UK for social sciences by The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024. The Geography Department located in Strand Campus is a diverse department well known in conducting world-leading research mainly related to understanding the environment and the societies in which we live.   

Applications are invited as a part of a research project on “Empowering Resilience in a Sinking City: A Decision Support System (DSS) for Participatory Knowledge Exchange, Urban Simulation and Modelling” funded by the British Academy for the duration of 2024-2026. More information is available here. The selected candidate will be working with Dr Zahratu Shabrina and Dr Emma Colven, as well as a research team from Resilience Development Initiative in Indonesia. We are looking to hire someone who can assist the team in developing a flood simulation using Penjaringan District in North Jakarta, Indonesia, as a case study. The work will be based on Strand Campus, King’s College London.  

About the role

The selected candidate will be working with an interdisciplinary team consists of people from social science, data science and arts/humanities. The role will assist in working with various spatial datasets. Firstly, the role involves working with in creating a repository of building-level data of Jakarta (Indonesia), through predictive models such as neural network / deep learning models for predicting building typology (such as building age, current use, materials/constructions, number of storeys, etc.) Secondly, the selected candidate will be responsible in building a flood vulnerability model based on (1) past flood occurrences; (2) building typology; (3) socioeconomic characteristic; (4) changes to urban development (such as reclamation, etc.); (5) land subsidence data; (6) infrastructure developments (such as sea wall, retention ponds, etc); (7) community input. Thirdly, the role involves building a scenario-based predictive modelling in relation to flood vulnerabilities (such as do-nothing scenario, improvements to infrastructure (sea wall), different rates of land subsidence, etc.)

This is a full time post from January – August 2025 or part time (0.75 FTE) from January – 26 November 2025, and you will be offered a fixed term contract.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: 

Essential criteria

1. Minimum PhD degree in Computational Geography, Spatial Data Science, Climate Modelling or Related Discipline. 
2. Strong geospatial programming skills in Python or similar languages, Google Earth Engine (GEE), with experience in geospatial libraries (e.g. Geopandas, GDAL) and visualisation libraries (Matplotlib, Seaborn, etc.). 
3. Familiarity with AI/ML techniques such as Neural Network and Deep Learning to disaster risk analysis / flood modelling / land subsidence modelling. 
4. Familiarity with predictive and scenario modelling for geospatial data applied to flood risk and vulnerability modelling. 
5. Proficiency in writing and verbally communicating in English. 

Desirable criteria

1. Demonstrated interest in environmental sustainability and climate change. 
2. Familiarity with Indonesian (Jakarta) or Southeast Asian urban development context including understanding of urban planning, housing informality and associated policies. 
3. Familiarity with building-level spatial data. 
4. Some experience in developing a dynamic visualisation platform. 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. 

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.