PhD Candidate in Measuring Uncertainty and Risk with Agentic AI for Decision-Oriented Modelling

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NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim.

At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

   

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About the position

aiD – AI for Decisions – is one of Norway's new national AI research centers, funded by the Research Council of Norway and industry partners. Led by NTNU and SINTEF, the center brings together 13 research partners and more than 60 partners from industry and the public sector. All open positions will be cross-linked on the aiD website aid-center.no

The successful applicant will work at NTNU in Trondheim. The Department of Mathematical Sciences, NTNU, will host the PhD position. The topic of the PhD fellowship is at the interface of numerical mathematics, agentic and generative AI models, and computer science. A successful candidate will be offered a three-year position, which could potentially be extended with career promotion work like teaching duties.

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia.

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

About the project

Many critical decisions in science and engineering, from managing power grids to planning subsurface energy operations, depend on computational models that are inherently uncertain. Uncertainty quantification (UQ) seeks to characterize and propagate this uncertainty but translating it into actionable risk measures remains computationally demanding and methodologically challenging. In realistic applications, uncertainty arises from multiple sources, including parametric uncertainty, model-form and structural assumptions, numerical discretization, and incomplete or noisy observations. Addressing these uncertainties typically relies on ensemble-based simulations using computationally expensive high-fidelity models.

This PhD project addresses this challenge by researching agentic programming frameworks for decision-oriented uncertainty and risk quantification, in which multiple specialized AI agents collaborate to design, execute, and evaluate UQ workflows under computational constraints. Rather than automating predefined pipelines, the agents act as meta-decision-makers, reasoning about modelling assumptions, approximation levels, and the choice of risk measures considering both decision objectives and available resources.

The central scientific aim of the PhD project is to establish formal links between uncertainty representations, risk measures, and downstream decisions, and to study how agentic reasoning can navigate trade-offs between interpretability, statistical reliability, and computational feasibility – and to develop principled criteria for when a given risk measure is well-founded given available data and resources, and when alternative approximations should be considered.

Duties of the position

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate.
• Conducting high-quality research within the scope of the project.
• Contributing to research publications in leading international journals and conferences.
• Participating in international activities such as conferences, workshops and possible research stays abroad.
• Disseminating research results to both scientific and broader audiences.
• Collaborating with academic and industrial project partners.
• Implementing and testing algorithms in high-performance open-source scientific software.

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a relevant Master's degree in mathematics or equivalent. Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master's level. Master students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position and no later than 01.09.2026.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker grade background, you maybe considered if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's Doctoral Programme (https://www.ntnu.no/studier/phma). 
• You must have documented programming experience relevant to scientific computing, for example in Python, MATLAB, Julia, C++ or similar languages. 
• You must have good written and oral communication skills in English. 

PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

It is an advantage if you have experience with one or more of the following topics:  

• numerical methods for (partial) differential equations.
• optimization or inverse problems.
• data assimilation or uncertainty quantification.
• agentic and generative AI.
• solid, structural, or fluid mechanics.
• adjoint methods, automatic differentiation, or differentiable programming.
• scientific software development, including reproducible workflows and version control.
• high-performance computing or parallel computing.

It is also an advantage if you have experience with publication-oriented research work and collaboration in international research environments.  

Knowledge of Norwegian or another Scandinavian language is beneficial but not required.  

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• are highly motivated and curious about mathematical and computational research.
• can work independently and in a structured manner.
• have strong analytical skills and the ability to engage deeply with complex problems.
• can collaborate constructively with supervisors, colleagues and project partners.
• communicate your ideas and results clearly and are willing to discuss them with others.
• demonstrate perseverance and flexibility when facing research challenges.

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities and motivation for the position.   

We offer

• An exciting job with an important mission in society.
• Close collaboration with internationally leading research groups at both NTNU and SINTEF in scientific computing, numerical methods, and AI.
• Stimulating work in a strong national and international professional environment.
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period.
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues.
• Favorable terms as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK
• Free Norwegian language training at a basic level (A2

As a PhD Candidate at NTNU, you will have access to employee benefits.

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population's collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality.

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK 550 800,-per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years for the doctoral work. The department might in addition offer upto 1 year of career promotion work.

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in (https://www.ntnu.no/studier/phma) within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme through out the period of employment.

The position is conditional on external funding.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates and diplomas upon request.

The application must include:

• CV.
• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degrees.
• Copy of Master's thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Short letter of motivation (400 words/1 page).
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work.
• Possibly certificates.
• Names and contact information of three relevant referees.

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor's and Master's education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well.

Joint work will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions, and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates.

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU's social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Trond Kvamsdal, Professor at Department of Mathematical Sciences, NTNU through e-mail: Trond.Kvamsdal@ntnu.no or Chief Scientist Knut-Andreas Lie at Department of Mathematics and Cybernetics, SINTEF Digital, through e-mail: Knut-Andreas.Lie@sintef.no. 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Lisa Wedershoven, e-mail: lisa.wedershoven@ntnu.no.

Application deadline: 03.08.2026.

For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.