15 Doctoral Candidate Positions in the MSCA Doctoral Network REALISE

Several locations

Piazza dell'Università, 1 Perugia, Italy
Welfengarten 1 Hanover, Germany
Oude Markt 13 Leuven, Belgium
21, rue de l'école de médecine Paris, France
Château de la Source, Avenue du Parc Floral Orléans, France
Ferenciek tere 6 Budapest, Hungary
1 rue Jussieu Paris, France
Kongresni trg 12 Ljubljana, Slovenia

REALISE - Bridging Igneous Petrology and Machine Learning for Science and Society

About the REALISE Doctoral Network

REALISE will train 15 Doctoral Candidates at the interface of igneous petrology, volcanology, critical raw materials, and machine learning / AI. The network combines advanced petrological observations and multimodal analytical data with modern ML (including physics-informed and generative AI approaches) to improve:

• Volcanic hazard assessment and risk mitigation, and
• The understanding and exploration of critical raw materials in magmatic systems.

Doctoral projects address magma lifecycle processes, multimodal data fusion, physics–ML hybrid modelling (from CFD to atomistic simulations), and AI-assisted hypothesis formulation.

MSCA Doctoral Candidate eligibility criteria

Applicants must comply with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network eligibility rules, including:

• Applicants must not hold a PhD degree at the time of recruitment.
• At the time of recruitment, the applicant must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the host country for more than 12 months in the 36 months prior to the recruitment date.

Other requirements

• Applicants must meet the doctoral admission requirements of the recruiting host institution.
• Excellent motivation for interdisciplinary research combining Earth Sciences and ML/AI is expected.
• Strong English communication skills are required.

Overview of the Doctoral Candidate positions

Each position is a fully funded 36-month PhD fellowship within the MSCA framework and includes international secondments, advanced training, and competitive employment conditions according to MSCA rules.

First Call Application deadline: 31 March 2026*(Positions will remain open until filled.)*

Remuneration: The remuneration is based on the MSCA-DN researcher allowances (Living allowance: 4,010 € (adjusted by country coefficient); mobility allowance: 710 €; family allowance: 660 € (if eligible). The exact gross salary differs depending on the country and host institution. Full details are provided in the detailed descriptions of each position on the project website or during the interview phase.

More information: www.realise-dn.eu

Available positions:

DC1 – Deciphering the genesis of critical ore deposits in the Bushveld Layered Intrusions

• Host/PhD: University of Perugia (Italy) | Supervisor: Prof. Maurizio Petrelli
• Secondments: BGR (Germany); UvA (Netherlands)

DC2 – Pre-eruptive dynamics at Campi Flegrei: multimodal petrology + physics-informed AI

• Host/PhD: University of Perugia (Italy) | Supervisor: Prof. Maurizio Petrelli
• Secondments: KUL (Belgium); UL (Slovenia)

Required profile (general)

We welcome applicants from Earth Sciences (petrology/volcanology/geochemistry/mineral resources), Computer/Data Science (ML/AI), or genuinely interdisciplinary backgrounds.

Typical desirable skills (vary by DC):

• Igneous petrology, mineralogy, geochemistry, volcanology, thermodynamics, modelling; and/or
• ML/AI, data science, statistics, image analysis, scientific programming (Python/R/Julia), HPC;
• Strong motivation for interdisciplinary research and international collaboration;
• Good English communication skills.

How to apply

Apply via: instructions and links on www.realise-dn.eu (project website).
Deadline: 31 March 2026 *(or until filled)*.

Suggested application documents (unless host-specific rules state otherwise):

• Motivation letter (maximum 1 page) indicating preferred DC position
• CV (incl. education, research experience, publications if any)
• Academic transcripts/degree certificates (if available)
• Proof of English proficiency (if applicable / requested)

All documents need to be submitted as a single PDF file.

Selection process

Eligible applications will be evaluated on academic merit, motivation, fit to the project, and relevant skills. Shortlisted candidates may be invited to online interviews and/or technical discussions, depending on the DC. Recruitment will be carried out and monitored in full accordance with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers, the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, and the Doctoral Network mobility rules. The process will follow an open, transparent, merit-based, impartial, and equitable procedure, tailored to each individual DC position.