The Geothermal Energy & Geofluids (GEG) Group at ETH Zurich is a renowned research unit in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, focusing on subsurface mass and energy transfer processes, thermal-fluid energy conversion, and process plant systems. The group conducts fundamental and applied research addressing societal challenges related to geothermal energy, geologic CO₂ sequestration, subsurface energy and fluid storage, direct lithium extraction from brines, and coupled surface-subsurface systems.
This position is aimed at strengthening the group with expertise in physics-based numerical modeling, software development, and engineering analysis of engineered energy and fluid systems, including geothermal power plants and mineral processing facilities.
Tasks
- Formulate, implement, and maintain numerical models and custom scientific modeling software for energy and process components such as heat exchangers, expanders, turbines, pumps, compressors, separators, condensers, piping networks, and wellbores.
- Simulate, optimize, and analyze integrated energy conversion systems, including geothermal power plants, binary/Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC), flash steam systems, thermal utilization networks, CO₂ compression/injection facilities, and process streams.
- Integrate physical process models with economic calculations to evaluate project viability, estimating Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Levelized Cost of Heat (LCOH), Levelized Cost of Lithium (LCOL), equipment cost estimation, net present value (NPV), and sensitivity analyses.
- Develop and apply computational models for coupled surface-subsurface fluid flow, heat transfer, and pressure/temperature evolution across surface facilities and wells.
- Write clean, modular, and reusable scientific code (primarily in Python) following modern development practices, including version control, automated testing, code style/linting, and clear technical documentation.
Requirements
- PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Computational Engineering, or a related engineering field.
- Strong technical grounding in engineering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and energy conversion systems.
- Proven capability in developing physics-based numerical simulators and models of thermal-fluid or power plant systems from governing equations, implementing them in scientific/engineering software (preferably Python, using scientific libraries) using version control and testing in a collaborative environment.
- A strong passion for both conceptual model development and practical software creation.
- Relevant industry or applied engineering experience in power plant engineering, process plants, or thermal-fluid systems is desirable.
- Expertise in geothermal power generation, ORC cycles, geologic carbon capture and storage (CCS/CCUS), direct lithium extraction (DLE) from brines, or subsurface gas/energy storage is an asset.
- Familiarity with equation-based, thermodynamic, or process simulation environments (e.g., TESPy, Aspen Plus, EES, Julia Modeling Toolkit, or Modelica), and fluid property libraries (e.g., CoolProp, REFPROP).
- Experience in techno-economic modeling, equipment cost correlations, uncertainty analysis, and physical process optimization.
- Understanding of wellbore dynamics, multiphase flow, or coupled reservoir-surface infrastructure.
- Competency in compiled languages (such as C++, Rust, or Julia) and multi-physics co-simulation standards (e.g., FMI/FMUs).
- Experience in collaborative software development (e.g., Git workflows, code review).
Benefits
- Become part of ETH Zurich, ranked among the top universities globally and Nr. 3 in Engineering & Technology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026).
- The GEG Group is housed within ETH Zurich’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), ranked Nr. 1 in Earth & Marine Sciences for over 10 consecutive years.
- ETH Zurich is a climate-neutral university supporting professional development and research addressing key societal challenges.
- Direct involvement in the Horizon Europe FlexGeo project and related Swiss and European initiatives, with opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and publication in peer-reviewed journals.
- Initially a 1-year contract at competitive ETH Postdoc salary rates with full social benefits and a strong likelihood of extension based on performance.
- Access to world-class computational resources and specialized modeling tools within the GEG group.
- Attractive employment conditions with numerous benefits, including generous pension plans, public transport season ticket discounts, car-sharing options, university childcare, and free/discounted sports programs through ASVZ.
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Über uns
Das Team
The GEG Group includes a multidisciplinary team of experts in scientific and engineering computation, AI, IT, subsurface thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and geothermal power plant systems. Collaboration with a dedicated computing team of six experts is part of the role.