Earth Sciences, Utrecht University

09/10/2026

Current vacancies in the Departments of Eath Sciences and Physical Geography

09/10/2026

FEST | Friday October 16th, 15:30h(!!) | PANGEA room

A talk by Dr Charlotte Summers about: 'Modelling Earth (and beyond)'. See the flyer for details.

With the Friday Earth Science Talks, we intend to bring the departments of Earth Sciences and Physical Geography together. The aim is to present (mostly) Utrecht-based Earth Sciences in an accessible way, primarily in order to stay familiar with each other’s work across disciplines. Simultaneously, this provides an excellent platform to help (in particular MSc.) students in their orientation on possible graduation specialisations and future careers.

07/10/2026

PhD Defence | Ocotber 13 | Mateus Kroth
Free access, but don't be late! In case a layman’s talk is included in the ceremony, this will start 15 minutes ahead of the time that is announced below!

On Tuesday October 13th at 11.15h, Mateus Kroth will defend his dissertation ‘More than chalk'. His (co-)promotores are Dr Joris Eggenhuisen, Dr João Trabucho Alexandre, and Dr Geert-Jan Vis.

In South Limburg, groundwater is abstracted from rocks deposited between about 85 and 61 million years ago, traditionally grouped in the Chalk Group. Groundwater quality has deteriorated in recent decades because of high nitrate concentrations linked to agriculture and urbanisation. However, the geological and groundwater models used to manage this aquifer do not always reproduce observations from pumping tests and groundwater monitoring.

This thesis characterises the variation in rock type and investigates how it controls aquifer properties, combining outcrop and borehole observations with microscopy, mineralogical and chemical analyses, and laboratory measurements.

Continue reading about it here: https://www.uu.nl/en/events/phd-defence-more-than-chalk

18/09/2026

FEST | Friday September 25th, 15:30h(!!) | PANGEA room

A talk by Profs. Liviu Matenco and Jan-Diederik van Wees about: 'The “thermal battery” beneath your feet: The ACCEL-UTES project of the Utrecht Science Park'. See the flyer for details.

With the Friday Earth Science Talks, we intend to bring the departments of Earth Sciences and Physical Geography together. The aim is to present (mostly) Utrecht-based Earth Sciences in an accessible way, primarily in order to stay familiar with each other’s work across disciplines. Simultaneously, this provides an excellent platform to help (in particular MSc.) students in their orientation on possible graduation specialisations and future careers.

17/09/2026

3 PhD DEFENCES NEXT WEEK!

In chronological order, these are:

Monday September 21 at 14.15h: Ben Cala, “Ω is not the end: drivers of marine carbonate mineral dissolution”, with (co-)promotores Prof. Mariëtte Wolthers, Prof. Gert-Jan Reichart, and Dr Matthew Humphreys.
https://www.uu.nl/en/events/phd-defence-o-is-not-the-end-drivers-of-marine-carbonate-mineral-dissolution

Tuesday September 22 at 14.15h: Celine Marsman, “The Tohoku Megathrust Earthquake Cycle: Unravelling Key Processes Using Data Assimilation”, with promotores Dr Rob Govers and Prof. Femke Vossepoel.
https://www.uu.nl/en/events/phd-defence-the-tohoku-megathrust-earthquake-cycle-unravelling-key-processes-using-data-assimilation

Thursday September 24 at 10.15h: Job Arts, “Multi-scale analysis of faults in reservoir systems”, with (co-)promotores Prof. Martyn Drury, Prof. Liviu Matenco, Dr André Niemeijer, and Dr Ernst Willingshofer.
https://www.uu.nl/en/events/phd-defence-multi-scale-analysis-of-faults-in-reservoir-systems

Free access, but don't be late! In case a layman’s talk is included in the ceremony, this will start 15 minutes ahead of the time that is announced above!

11/09/2026

PhD Defence | September 18 | Signe Haukelidsæter
Free access, but don't be late! In case a layman’s talk is included in the ceremony, this will start 15 minutes ahead of the time that is announced below!

On Friday September 18th at 16.15h, Signe Haukelidsæter will defend her dissertation ‘Biogeochemistry of rapid sand filters used for drinking water production'. Her promotores are Prof. Caroline Slomp and Prof. Sebastian Lücker.

Sand filtration has been one of the most widely used methods for producing drinking water for more than 150 years. Although it is a proven and reliable technology, the design and operation of sand filters are still largely based on practical experience rather than a detailed understanding of the underlying processes.

In this thesis, we studied rapid sand filters used for groundwater treatment. In the Netherlands, about 60% of drinking water is produced from groundwater, and rapid sand filtration is used at almost every drinking water treatment plant. These gravity-driven filters are filled with sand, and water flows through them at rates of about 2 to 10 m/h. During filtration, iron, manganese, and ammonium are removed to produce safe drinking water. Rapid sand filters are relatively inexpensive because they do not require chemicals, are easy to clean, and can operate successfully for many years.

However,….. continue reading about it here: https://www.uu.nl/en/events/phd-defence-biogeochemistry-of-rapid-sand-filters-used-for-drinking-water-production

09/09/2026

FEST | Friday September 11th, 15:30h(!!) | PANGEA room

For a while, it looked like we wouldn't have a speaker for the FEST, but fortunately, Prof. Andrew Roberts, visiting from Australia, has stepped in. The topic of his talk is: "Can the fossilized remains of magnetic bacteria be used to build a new fossil record of life on Earth?". See the flyer for details.

NOTE THAT THE FEST NOW STARTS AT 15.30h!!

With the Friday Earth Science Talks, we intend to bring the departments of Earth Sciences and Physical Geography together. The aim is to present (mostly) Utrecht-based Earth Sciences in an accessible way, primarily in order to stay familiar with each other’s work across disciplines. Simultaneously, this provides an excellent platform to help (in particular MSc.) students in their orientation on possible graduation specialisations and future careers.

04/09/2026

PhD Defence | September 8 | Martha Kosters
Free access, but don't be late! In case a layman’s talk is included in the ceremony, this will start 15 minutes ahead of the time that is announced below!

On Tuesday September 8th at 10.15h, Martha Kosters will defend her dissertation 'Micromagnetic Tomography: Insights from a single Hawaiian basalt'. Her (co-)promotores are Prof. Wout Krijgsman and Dr Lennart de Groot.

Paleomagnetism is the art of retrieving the direction and intensity of the Earth Magnetic Field from rock samples of varying ages and locations. This data can be used for a wide variety of Earth Scientific purposes, from reconstructing plate tectonics to modeling the geodynamo. Micromagnetic Tomography (MMT) is a newly developed technique to retrieve the magnetic signal from individual magnetic grains using a Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM).

Read more about it here: https://www.uu.nl/en/events/phd-defence-micromagnetic-tomography-insights-from-a-single-hawaiian-basalt

25/08/2026

Go-ahead for monitoring well for underground heat storage at the Utrecht Science Park

Utrecht University is taking an important step towards making its energy supply more sustainable. The Executive Board has given the go-ahead for the next phase of the high-temperature thermal storage (HTS) project. During this phase, a monitoring and exploration well will be installed to further map the characteristics of the subsurface.

Read the news article here:
https://www.uu.nl/en/news/go-ahead-for-monitoring-well-for-underground-heat-storage-at-the-utrecht-science-park

and more background of it here:
https://www.uu.nl/en/news/high-temperature-aquifer-thermal-energy-storage-in-the-utrecht-science-park

Besides Jan-Diederik van Wees en Liviu Matenco (who are mentioned in the news articles), several others in the department of Earth Sciences have contributed to this work, among which Nemanja Krstekanic, Antoine Auzemery and Fred Beekman, as well as colleagues from TNO en IF-Technology.

The University of Utrecht is taking an important step towards making its energy supply more sustainable. The Executive Board has given the go-ahead for the next phase of the high-temperature thermal storage (HTS) project. During this phase, a monitoring and exploration well will be installed to furt...