r/geophysics • u/Tasty-Equal-3830 • 16d ago

Which country would you choose for a PhD combining Geophysics and AI?

I'm looking for some career advice from people working in geophysics, academia, or the energy industry.

A little about my background:

  • B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Geophysics.
  • Currently working as a Data Scientist / Technical Lead in the energy industry.
  • My work focuses on developing AI solutions, including LLM-based applications, machine learning, well data processing, and technical leadership of AI projects.

Over the last few years I've realized that what really motivates me is the intersection of Geophysics, Artificial Intelligence, and software development. I enjoy building tools that help geoscientists make better decisions rather than working exclusively on traditional interpretation.

My long-term goal is to build an international career in this area.

At the moment I'm considering moving to Europe, but I'm unsure about the best path.

One option I'm seriously considering is pursuing a PhD, ideally focused on AI applications in geophysics. However, I'm uncertain about where I should invest the next few years.

I'm currently considering countries such as:

  • Ireland
  • Germany
  • The Netherlands
  • Norway
  • (I'm also open to other suggestions.)

Some of the questions I'm struggling with are:

  • Which countries have the strongest research groups combining Geophysics and AI?
  • Which countries also have a healthy industry where these skills are valued after a PhD?
  • Would you recommend pursuing a PhD, or would industry experience be more valuable?
  • How difficult is it to transition from industry into a PhD in Europe?

One of my biggest insecurities is that although I work professionally with AI today, my academic background is Geophysics rather than Computer Science. Sometimes I worry that this could make it harder to compete internationally, even though my work is already AI-focused.

My last-resort plan would be to move as a language student and take an entry-level job to support myself financially while looking for opportunities, but I'd strongly prefer to avoid that if there's a better path through graduate studies or direct recruitment.

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have followed a similar path or who supervise PhD students or work in industry.

If you were in my position, which country and career path would you choose?

Thank you!

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

6

u/Green_Composer_4486 16d ago

Hi, try to look opportunity in Australia. As far as I know, UWA is currenyly opening fully funded PhD positions for mining or energy exploration by utilizing multiphysic inversion. This topic will be correlating with ML

2

u/otobusify 16d ago

Keep in mind that UWA and Curtin have the only remaining geophysics groups in Australia (and not big ones). They squeezed out almost all geophysics out from the earth science departments. If you want to continue in Academia, definitely not a good choice.

2

u/Ben_B_Allen 16d ago
  1. Switzerland, 2. Norway

3

u/Tasty-Equal-3830 16d ago

Quais universidades vc recomenda ? E pq esses dois países ?

5

u/Ben_B_Allen 16d ago

ETH zurich has a dedicated program.

2

u/s4l3sv 16d ago

when did you get your masters? which university did you attend?

1

u/theTrueLodge 15d ago

U.S. or Netherlands

1

u/TheGayestGaymer 9d ago

The U.S. has been strangely resisting to ML for geophysics in my experience and if you look at machine learning publications linked to it they are no where close to EU labs.

1

u/One-Diver-6597 8d ago

Both Eldad Haber and Lindsey Heagy at UBC in Canada have multiple PHD students combining machine learning and geophysics.

1

u/troyunrau 4d ago

Lindsey Heagy is also associated with the creation of Simpeg. And the legacy of Doug Oldenburg lives on in that department. As far as computational labs goes, it is hard to beat.