Postdoctoral Researcher in Urban Planning 80-100% (m/f/d)
Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL
Birmensdorf
Key information
- Publication date:16 October 2025
- Workload:80 – 100%
- Place of work:Birmensdorf
Job summary
The Swiss Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape WSL employs around 600 staff focusing on sustainable environmental use. Join a dynamic team dedicated to addressing nature-related challenges.
Tasks
- Explore urban planning models for resilient, green cities.
- Analyze initiatives to transform sealed areas into vibrant green spaces.
- Collaborate with international partners to publish findings widely.
Skills
- PhD in spatial planning, governance, or related field required.
- Strong communication and organizational skills needed.
- Experience in stakeholder collaboration and qualitative research.
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The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, with around 600 employees, is part of the ETH domain. It deals with the sustainable use and protection of the environment as well as responsible management of natural hazards.
Postdoctoral Researcher in Urban Planning 80-100% (m/f/d)
The research unit Landscape Dynamics examines patterns and processes of land systems and their dynamics on various spatial and temporal scales.
The Land Use Systems group is looking for two years within the framework of the SNF-funded project "UNSEAL - Understanding and enabling the transition towards reverting soil sealing for improving urban biodiversity and nature-based solutions" for a
New planning models are needed to make cities more resilient, greener, and richer in species. The UNSEAL project promotes a circular urban development model and investigates how urban planning can help reverse soil sealing and create new spaces for biodiversity. Within this project, you will explore new perspectives on how urban planning in European cities can engage stakeholders to transform sealed surfaces into vibrant green spaces. You will work on case studies and compare different urban contexts. In doing so, you will analyze successful initiatives and identify planning tools, models, and approaches that enable the unsealing of surfaces. You will also contribute to disseminating the project results – within the scientific community, among urban planners, and to the general public. Collaboration with international project partners serves to scale results and publish jointly.
You hold a completed doctorate in spatial planning, governance, or a related field. You are familiar with European planning systems and have experience in planning and applying policy analyses, collaborating with stakeholders, and conducting qualitative research methods such as document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and qualitative content analysis. For successful participation in the project, you bring strong communication and organizational skills, team spirit, and very good English skills. Experience in interdisciplinary teams and good knowledge of one of the languages of the countries relevant to the case studies (German, Hungarian, Greek, Romanian, Dutch) are advantageous.
Please send your complete application to Beatrice Lamprecht, Human Resources WSL, by submitting the required documents via our application portal. Applications by e-mail or postal mail will not be considered. For questions, Dr. Simona Gradinaru is available at simona.gradinaru@wsl.ch. At WSL, diversity and inclusion are lived values. We are committed to gender equality and promoting an open and inclusive working environment.
