AI Methods for Hydro-Climatic Extremes at Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry

PhD Position, 100%, 3 years
1st April 2026 - 31th March 2030

PhD candidate position to join our flood-related subproject within GENAI-X, which develops hybrid and data-driven approaches aimed at improving the generalization of machine learning models for flood-related processes under changing climatic and land-surface conditions. The successful candidate will develop ML models for dynamic, non-stationary processes relevant to flood occurrence and response, contribute to hybrid modeling approaches that integrate data-driven methods with hydrologic process representations, and enhance model generalizability across different climatic regimes, including rare and extreme events. The role also involves quantifying flood risk and improving early-warning predictability in out-of-distribution scenarios such as climate or land-cover change, supported by explainable and causal ML techniques. Additionally, the candidate will contribute to benchmarking activities within GENAI-X and communicate results through scientific publications and project dissemination.