Call for Applications: Faculty Position in Hydrogeology and Sustainable Groundwater Management
Job description
Tipo de planta académica: Regular Academic Track
Employment: Full time
The School of Engineering at UC Chile, one of the leading engineering academic institutions in Latin America, invites outstanding candidates for a full-time faculty position in the area of Hydrogeology and Sustainable Groundwater Management at the Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering. This position is expected to strengthen the Department’s core area of groundwater flow and hydrogeological processes, with emphasis on the quantitative understanding, observation, and modeling of saturated and variably saturated systems. Although this call is initially intended for candidates at the Assistant Professor level, exceptional applications at the Associate Professor level are also welcome.
Duties: High-quality research and teaching in engineering in hydrogeology and/or groundwater engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Additional duties include knowledge transfer, outreach, student counseling and university administrative tasks.
Within this core profile, the candidate’s research should contribute to the sustainable use and management of groundwater systems under changing climatic, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions.
Relevant research topics include, but are not limited to:
• Quantitative hydrogeology and physically based groundwater modeling (using MODFLOW, FEFLOW, MIKE SHE or equivalent physically based models).
• Groundwater flow, recharge, storage, and groundwater-surface water interactions.
• Field-based hydrogeology including aquifer characterization, monitoring, hydraulic testing, hydrogeochemistry, tracers, and hydrogeophysics.
• Integrated modeling approaches that combine process-based models, field observations, remote sensing, data-driven methods, uncertainty analysis, and decision-support tools.
• Groundwater quality, contaminant transport, aquifer vulnerability, and protection of groundwater resources.
• Sustainable groundwater management in water-scarce regions, including managed aquifer recharge, drought resilience, and adaptation to climate change.
• Groundwater systems affected by agricultural, urban, industrial, or mining activities.
• Development of predictive tools, hybrid models, or digital platforms to support groundwater planning and management.
This list is intended to describe possible research directions and complementary strengths. Candidates are not expected to cover all these areas; rather, they should demonstrate excellence and potential for leadership in one or more of them, grounded in a solid understanding of hydrogeological processes.
The selected candidate is expected to develop an internationally visible and externally funded research program, contribute to undergraduate and graduate teaching in hydraulic and environmental engineering, supervise graduate students, participate actively in interdisciplinary projects, and strengthen collaborations with public agencies, industry, and national and international academic networks.
Equal opportunity employer
UC Chile is committed to providing equal employment opportunities, fostering an inclusive, diverse and fraternal community, and promoting the academic development of women and men.
Qualifications
Applicants must have earned a Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering, Hydrogeology, Geological Sciences, Earth Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or a closely related field, at the time of hiring. Applicants must demonstrate a strong background in hydrogeology, groundwater hydrology, or related areas, with the ability to develop independent and high-impact research. Due to the nature of our School the applicant will have the opportunity and should be willing to work collaboratively with other Departments in the School of Engineering, as well as with other schools, centers, and institutes of the University. Previous postdoctoral or international academic experience should be stated in the application.
Candidates do not need to be fluent in Spanish at the time of application, but should be prepared to learn the language well enough to teach in Spanish in the short term (two years maximum). Fluency in English is a requirement.
Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to all aspects of academic life and public good of the institution. They must be highly motivated to continuously improve their teaching skills, have a genuine interest in getting involved with our graduate programs (specially the doctoral program) and be able to develop and maintain an active research agenda leading to high quality publications, securing research grants, generating and participating in interdisciplinary projects, leading scientific and industry-liaison initiatives, strengthening and creating national and international academic networks, etc. The candidate will also be expected to create new undergraduate and graduate courses and teach traditional courses in related areas.
If selected for the position, foreigners that apply from abroad must obtain the appropriate visa in their country of residence, to join the University faculty.
Additional information
Additional information can be obtained by emailing the Department Chair, Wernher Brevis, wbrevis@uc.cl. For assistance with the online application form, please send an e-mail to: facultypositions.ing@uc.cl.
For information concerning the benefits for academics of the Faculty of Engineering, please see: https://tinyurl.com/cp8hnnsk.
AAP Policy Statement
Other Chilean and University employment benefits may be found in:
● Foreign workers in Chile: https://www.dt.gob.cl/portal/1626/w3-article-93693.html
● University rules and regulations:
All members of UC Chile subscribe the Code of Ethics that can be found in https://www.uc.cl/codigodehonor
Application instructions
Please submit your application through the website: https://tinyurl.com/2s3s6e2d (note A) by November 30, 2026 (late applications will be considered until the position is filled). Please select “Faculty position in Hydrogeology and Sustainable Groundwater Management” in the application form and consider that you will be required to provide the following information by the deadline for your application to be accepted:
1. A research statement (in English) indicating the immediate and long-term goals of your research plan, including potential collaboration networks with other researchers and plans for interactions with scientists in Chile and other countries.
2. A teaching statement (in English) indicating why you should be considered for the position and your teaching plans. Provide specific examples of your plan to impart knowledge to undergraduate and graduate students.
3. An updated curriculum vitae (in English, see note B).
4. Up to five copies of recent publications indexed in Web of Science or ICORE A/A* that are relevant to the field of application (see note C).
5. Three letters of recommendation. You must provide the contact information for three referees, who will receive directly an e-mail with a link to upload their recommendation letters. Please consider a timely application so that your referees are able to send their letters before the deadline, otherwise your application will not be considered. Letters sent directly by the applicants will not be considered.
Note A:
Applicants will receive a confirmation e-mail acknowledging the reception of the application.
Note B:
The CV must be organized as follows:
i. Personal information: name, address, contact telephone number (with country and city codes), email address, web page (if any).
ii. Education: all academic and professional degrees, indicating the granting institutions and dates. If the applicant is currently enrolled in a doctoral program, please indicate the expected date for the degree.
iii. Educational experience (university or institution, courses taught and years).
iv. Professional experience (employer, duties, years).
v. Research:
a. List of journal publications indexed in the Web of Science catalogue.
b. List of conference publications indexed in the ICORE A/A* catalogue.
c. List of other publications such as reports, books or book chapters, conference papers,
d. List of other activities and achievements, such as participation in research projects, patents, etc.
vi. Others: awards, computer skills, languages, and any other relevant background information.
Note C:
Please avoid padding the list with other journal or conference publications, presentations and alike, not indexed in the Web of Science or the ICORE A/A* database.
You will be contacted within two months after the application deadline to inform you whether your application has been selected for further consideration or not. Preselected candidates will be asked to continue the process following the steps described in Appendix 1.
Appendix 1. Application steps
1) Interviews/Seminar:
a. Interview with the Dean of the School of Engineering
b. Interview with the Selection Committee
c. Interview with faculty members of the Department of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering.
d. Psychological Interview
e. Seminar (open to faculty members of the School of Engineering)
The interviews and seminar are generally carried out within a week.
2) Selection of the final candidate by the Department and the Selection Committee
3) Ratification of the selected candidate by the School Council
4) The selected candidate is informed (offer letter)
The time that elapses from the interviews until the final resolution is typically around two months.