Postdoctoral Position in Process & Energy Systems Modeling

About the role

The Geothermal Energy & Geofluids (GEG) Group at ETH Zurich's Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences is looking for a Process & Energy Systems Modeling Engineer/Scientist as a postdoc. The work covers physics-based numerical modeling, software development and engineering analysis of energy and fluid systems, from geothermal power plants to fluid and mineral processing facilities. A core task is co-developing an open-source power plant and wellbore flow simulator integrated into TANGO, the group's techno-economic analysis platform.

Key responsibilities

• Formulate, implement and maintain numerical models and custom software for energy and process components such as heat exchangers, turbines, pumps, compressors, piping networks and wellbores.
• Simulate, optimize and analyze integrated energy conversion systems, including geothermal power plants, ORC cycles, flash steam systems, CO2 compression and injection facilities and process streams.
• Combine physical process models with economic calculations to estimate LCOE, LCOH, LCOL, equipment costs, NPV and run sensitivity analyses.
• Develop computational models for coupled surface-subsurface fluid flow, heat transfer and pressure/temperature evolution.
• Write clean, modular, reusable scientific code (mainly Python) with version control, automated testing and documentation.

Required profile

• PhD in Mechanical, Process, Chemical, Energy, Thermal, Computational Engineering or a related field.
• Strong grounding in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and energy conversion systems.
• Proven ability to develop physics-based numerical simulators and implement them in scientific software, preferably Python, in a collaborative environment.
• Desirable: experience in power plant or process engineering, knowledge of geothermal power, ORC cycles, CCS/CCUS, DLE or subsurface storage, and familiarity with simulation tools such as TESPy, Aspen Plus, EES, Julia Modeling Toolkit or Modelica, and fluid property libraries such as CoolProp or REFPROP.

Required skills

• Python programming with scientific libraries, Git and automated testing
• Numerical modeling of thermal-fluid and power plant systems
• Desirable: C++, Rust or Julia, FMI/FMUs, techno-economic modeling and cost correlation

What we offer

• 1-year fixed-term contract at competitive ETH postdoc salary with full social benefits, with a strong likelihood of extension.
• Access to high-performance computing resources and specialized modeling tools.
• Pension plans, public transport discounts, car-sharing, university childcare and sports programs.