PhD Positions and Postdoc Opportunities at The University of Texas at Austin

[Dapeng Feng]

Dear Colleagues,

The Terrestrial Hydrology and Ecosystems Intelligence Group at the Jackson School of Geosciences, the University of Texas at Austin is seeking 2 PhD students (5 years of financial support assured) and postdocs, starting Fall 2026. Our group focuses on the systematic integration of physical models, machine learning, and big Earth observations to understand the terrestrial water cycle and its interactions with climate and ecosystems. Specific topics include

 

1) Continental and global hydrologic modeling by integrating physics and AI  

2) Water-ecosystems interactions across scales under the changing environment

3) Microwave remote sensing of vegetation water and model-data integration

4) Impacts of external disturbances and human activities on hydrologic processes

 

Prospective PhD students: Applicants should hold or are close to getting a bachelor’s or master’s degree in hydrology, geoscience, engineering, remote sensing, GIS, computer science or other related fields. Strong programming skills, experience in machine learning, hydrologic modeling, or big Earth data analysis are highly preferred. Applicants should also meet the university’s minimum requirement of graduate admissions (link: bit.ly/46kPLPr).

To apply: please email Dr. Dapeng Feng (dapen...@jsg.utexas.edu and cc dpf...@stanford.edu) with the subject line “[PhD Application]-[Name]-THEI Group” and include your CV, transcripts, a cover letter briefly explaining your background and interest, and contact information of 3 references. The review begins immediately. We encourage to apply early, and full consideration will be given to applications by November 15, 2025. While we sincerely thank all the applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interviews. Selected candidates will apply through UT Austin’s official system due in early December 2025.

 

Prospective postdocs: The Jackson School has multiple exciting postdoc fellowship opportunities (link: bit.ly/4n8Cord). If you are looking for a postdoc position and are interested in our group research topics, please email Dapeng (dapen...@jsg.utexas.edu and cc dpf...@stanford.edu) your cover letter, CV, and contact information of 3 references, with the subject line “[Postdoc Application]-[Name]-THEI Group”. The potential candidates will be contacted to further discuss the applications and proposal writing.

 

About PI and the group: Dapeng Feng (google scholar: bit.ly/4msfr1h) will join UT-Austin as an assistant professor in Jan 2026 after his postdoc at Stanford University. He is the major developer of the widely used differentiable hydrologic modeling framework to unify physical models and machine learning. His group aims to build a supportive and collaborative environment for members to succeed while exploring the frontiers of hydrologic sciences. Students will have many opportunities to expand their networks and collaborate with other groups at UT and other institutes such as Stanford, UCSD, Penn State, KAUST, IIASA, etc.

 

About the institute: UT-Austin is a world-renowned public university in the US, highly ranked both nationally and globally. Located in the vibrant Austin city, known as “Silicon Hills”, it offers exceptional opportunities for research, innovation and quality of life. The Jackson School at UT hosts the world’s largest academic geoscience communities and one of the most well regarded geoscience programs, providing enormous resources for cutting-edge geoscientific research.

Please help me share these opportunities to anyone who might be interested. Thank you very much!

Best regards,

Dapeng Feng