PhD Position: Digital Twins for Enhancing Climate Resilience in Port and Hinterland Connections

Job description
Research context:

The accelerating impacts of climate change pose significant threats to port infrastructure and operations as well as its critical hinterland connections, which form the backbone of global trade and logistics. Rising sea levels, increased storm intensity, and extreme weather events disrupt port operations, damage infrastructure, and hamper the efficient flow of goods, creating far-reaching economic and logistical challenges.

Port-hinterland connections, essential for the efficient transfer of goods between ports and inland destinations, are especially vulnerable. Extreme weather events such as flooding and droughts can put these connections in danger, leading to costly delays and supply chain disruptions. Furthermore, inadequate resilience measures can worsen environmental damage and contribute to a cycle of increasing emissions and operational instability. Ensuring the resilience of port hinterland connections is thus crucial for safeguarding supply chain stability and reducing the carbon footprint of port-related transport.

This PhD research is a part of the “Climate Resilient Port Infrastructure (CLARION)” project funded by the Horizon Europe Program. CLARION aims to address the resiliency and sustainability of port infrastructures and hinterland transport networks in the event of disruptions caused by climate change. Bringing together a multidisciplinary team of 20 partners from 11 European countries, CLARION will develop and implement innovative solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change on port infrastructure and hinterland connections. Throughout the project, the candidate will work closely with project partners like Deltares and the Port of Rotterdam, ensuring that the research directly addresses practical needs and benefits from industry-leading expertise.

As a PhD candidate, you will play a central role in developing an advanced digital twin framework for climate-resilient port-hinterland connections, with a focus on major corridors in North-Western Europe, including the Port of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, and their hinterlands. TU Delft leads the digital twin development for the CLARION project, adopting a multi-corridor approach to enhance resilience across these critical transport routes. By building on the current open-source digital twin model for Dutch waterways, which utilizes agent-based simulation tools such as OpenCLSim and OpenTNSim, this project will extend these capabilities to address climate resilience across diverse infrastructure types and environments.

The purpose of the digital twin is to simulate climate-induced effects and adaptation measures on inland waterway transport networks for the benefit of decision-makers and stakeholders. By integrating real-world data—such as AIS, hydrodynamic data, and infrastructure data—the digital twin will provide a dynamic platform to simulate complex interactions between hydrodynamics, vessels, and infrastructures like locks, bridges, and terminals. Additional input parameters, such as energy consumption and emission footprints, will enable a holistic analysis of sustainability impacts in conjunction with climate adaptation strategies. Through this approach, port and logistics operators will gain insights to improve resilience, reduce emissions, and enhance efficiency under changing climate conditions. With a central focus on digital twin development, your research scope can extend to areas like Intermodal Transport Integration, where you will design and simulate a network that supports efficient modal shifts across multiple transport modes.

Job requirements
We are looking for excellent candidates who are passionate about climate resilience in waterborne transportation and logistics and have a proven interdisciplinary track record. This position requires outstanding skills in modeling and working with big datasets. In particular, we look for candidates with:

• An MSc degree in Civil Engineering, Maritime Engineering, Transport and Infrastructure, or any other related field;
• Advanced skills in scripting with Python
• Extensive Experience in integrating and working with diverse data sources and Big Data Analytics;
• Experience with agent-based (and/or) discrete-event simulation;
• Ability to work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment both with scientific partners and stakeholders from industry;
• Additional experience with Digital Twins and AIS data is a plus.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. More specifically, TOEFL or IELTS English proficiency tests are required for all applicants except those whose MSc program was taught in English. The minimum requirement of a TOEFL score is 100 and IELTS is 7.0. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

TU Delft
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences
The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to outstanding international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Our research feeds into our educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource availability, urbanisation and clean water. Our research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions. CEG is convinced of the importance of open science and supports its scientists in integrating open science in their research practice. The Faculty of CEG comprises 28 research groups in the following seven departments: Materials Mechanics Management & Design, Engineering Structures, Geoscience and Engineering, Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Transport & Planning, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences.

Conditions of employment
Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2872 per month in the first year to € 3670 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Additional information
The supervisory team consists of Prof. Mark van Koningsveld, and Dr. Nadia Pourmohammadzia. For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr. Nadia Pourmohammadzia, e-mail: n.pourmohammadzia@tudelft.nl.

Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply no later than 12 December 2024 via the application button and upload the following documents:

• Detailed CV
• Motivational letter
• Transcripts (both MSc and BSc)
• MSc thesis abstract
• Contact information of at least two referees

You can address your application to Dr. Nadia Pourmohammadzia.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Please note:

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• A pre-employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• A knowledge security check will be part of the selection procedure (for details page 45: national knowledge security guidelines).
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.