PhD: Leveraging Street View Imagery and AI to Advance Urban Exposome Mapping

Are you passionate about environmental health, data science, and AI? Do you want to contribute to groundbreaking research at the intersection of technology, urban planning, and public health? The Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) at Utrecht University invites applications for a PhD position within the national Exposome-NL consortium.

Your job
The Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) of Utrecht University is at the forefront of Exposome science and environmental health. The position is part of Exposome-NL, a Dutch consortium of over fifty scientists from different disciplines, universities and medical centres. The scientists will apply innovative techniques to investigate which factors of the exposome are important for health and how these factors work.

In this PhD project, you will explore how Google Street View imagery, 3D urban mapping, and Vision Transformer (ViT) AI models can be used to enrich Exposome Maps with visual and temporal detail. We have already collected street-level images for every 100-meter grid cell across 100 Dutch and 100 European cities. Your research will examine whether these visual features can enhance the modelling of hyperlocal air pollution and, in later stages, be extended to include other environmental exposures such as green space, noise, and urban heat.

This project aims to better understand how urban environments influence human health and to support urban planners, designers, and policymakers in creating healthier cities. Your work will contribute to the development of new tools that bridge technology and public health.

This position is fully funded, and we encourage and provide financial support for visits to conferences, workshops and summer schools. We promote (inter)national exchange visits.

You are an enthusiastic and collaborative colleague and meet several or all of the following criteria:

• a Master's degree in Data Science, Environmental Epidemiology or a similar field;
• expertise in programming skills and statistical data analyses, including machine learning;
• affinity with environmental exposure modelling and high-performance computing;
• strong reporting and presentation skills;
• a good level of written and spoken English.

• A position for 12 months, with an extension to a total of four years upon successful assessment in the first 12 months;
• a fulltime working week and a gross monthly salary between €2,901 and €3,707 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Your position will be based at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), within the research line One Health Chemical, led by Professor Roel Vermeulen. This research line consists of three interconnected groups: Occupational Health, Planetary Health, and the Data Science & Exposome Group.

Our mission is to advance education and cutting-edge research to unravel the complex interactions between environmental factors—including chemical, social, physical-chemical, and lifestyle risk factors—and their effects on human and planetary health. By integrating multiple disciplines, we aim to transform scientific knowledge into actionable tools, insights, and solutions that promote sustainable well-being for individuals, communities, and ecosystems.

IRAS is an interfaculty research institute spanning the Faculties of Veterinary Medicine and Medicine. It is dedicated to education and research on the human and environmental health risks associated with exposure to potentially harmful agents. Our research is structured around three core domains: Toxicology, Environmental Epidemiology, and Veterinary Public Health.

For more information, please contact dr. Jules Kerckhoffs at j.kerckhoffs@uu.nl and prof. Roel Vermeulen at r.c.h.vermeulen@uu.nl