PhD Candidate in Assessment of water allocation in arid regions

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education seeks a PhD research candidate to conduct research in surface and groundwater interactions as part of a recently awarded International project to assess the influence of local, environmental and anthropogenic activities on the quality of surface- and groundwater bodies in arid regions.

The PhD candidate will be hosted by the Department of Water Resources and Ecosystems (WRE) Department of IHE Delft.

The PhD candidate will be supervised by an IHE Delft Professor with affiliation in TU Delft and Dr. Jochen Wenninger (Associate Professor of Hydrology & Water Resources) and mentored by Dr. Konstantina Katsanou (Senior Lecturer in Water Quality Assessment and Monitoring) and Dr. Carlos M. Lopez Vazquez (Associate Professor of Sanitary Engineering). The Candidate will be registered at TU Delft.

In this PhD research, you will work with different internal partners at IHE Delft across the institute, as well as local partners in Latin America.

The primary purpose of this project is to assess the water allocation situation and examine the long-term seasonal hydrological behaviour of the water resources within the study area, taking into account the effects of climate change and the different water uses.

The PhD candidate is expected to model the hydrological system and provide a better understanding of the daily, monthly, seasonal flow and annual variation of interactions between surface and groundwater.

The candidate is also expected to assess the long-term seasonal hydrological behaviour and water allocation within the catchment under different scenarios.

The candidate will have to manage and handle different datasets generated by hydrological, meteorological and forecasting systems and will plan, design and lead fieldwork in remote areas.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the quantification and modelling of the water resources and the interactions between surface- and groundwater bodies in arid regions;
• Collaborate closely with other PhD candidates and contribute to their work related to mass balances and water quality;
• Participate in project meetings and contribute to the preparation and reporting of deliverables of the project related to the PhD research of the candidate;
• Present the project results at national and international conferences;
• Publish the obtained results in peer-reviewed journals;
• Mentor MSc theses, which are linked to the PhD research;
• Write and successfully defend a PhD thesis.

• A Master’s or corresponding degree in hydrology, hydrogeology, water resources management or related field;
• Willingness to travel and carry out fieldwork for extended periods in Latin America;
• The candidate should be proficient in English (written and spoken) and have demonstrated skills in independently writing academic texts in English;
• Full proficiency in the Spanish language is essential since several documents and reports are in Spanish;
• Knowledge of a programming language such as Python, R or Matlab is a must, as different data sets need to be analyzed;
• Knowledge and experience in modeling tools and data management of hydrological and meteorological data is needed;
• Fieldwork experience, preferably in arid regions and remote areas in Latin America is a plus.
• Willingness to mentor master theses and a collaborative attitude;
• Values a multi-cultural work environment and is able to have an inclusive and non-hierarchical attitude in a team.

This position is for 48 months (4 years), full-time, with the expectation that the candidate will submit and succe4 yearsssfully defend the PhD thesis within this period. The candidate will be stationed in Delft, the Netherlands. Employment at IHE Delft is according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (scale P). The appointment implies entry into the Netherlands' Civil Service Pension Fund (ABP).

The initial contract is for 18 months. Within the first year, a go/no-go decision will be made based on a detailed PhD research proposal to be developed by the candidate, which will determine whether or not the contract will be extended.

The expected start date of the position is 01 March 2025.

Please see the following for more information about the PhD programme and requirements: PhD Programme | IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (un-ihe.org).

Additional information can be obtained from Dr. Jochen Wenninger (j.wenninger@un-ihe.org) and Dr. Konstantina Katsanou (k.katsanou@un-ihe.org).

Applications (in English) should respond specifically to the requirements and can be sent by January 31st, 2025 (closing date), including curriculum vitae and motivation letter. You can upload the files using the application form.

IHE Delft follows an open recruitment procedure that respects diversity and provides equal opportunity to applicants of all backgrounds.