项目介绍

2024年2月20日

Function

Are you interested in Nature-based Solutions (NBS), one of the fastest growing research themes of environmental science? Do you enjoy working across multiple disciplines?

The Water Systems and Global Change group at Wageningen University is currently looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to join our team (4 years, full time). This role involves the development a novel assessment framework to assess the performance of NBS in mitigating different impacts of climate change on the Earth’s systems. Your project will also involve the application of the developed framework to a case study (of national or multi-national scale), which is to be determined upon discussion with your supervisors. 

By active harnessing ecosystem services, NBS address societal challenges while improving biodiversity. These co-benefits are realized across different domains of the Earth, including Air, Water, and Ecosystems. For instance, recovering coastal mangroves can simultaneously improve regional air quality, reducing flood hazards and enhancing biodiversity. However, each of these benefits are being quantified individually using stand-alone models.

Therefore, your project will contribute to filling this important gap by developing an Integrated Multi-model Assessment Framework that can effectively quantify the benefits offered by NBS across different spheres, namely Atmosphere (Air), Water (Hydrosphere), and Ecosystems (Ecosphere). Applying the developed framework to a case study, you will investigate the performance of different NBS in potentially mitigating the climate change impacts on the air, water, and ecosystems of the chosen sites. Additionally, you will investigate the trade-offs and synergies when multiple types of NBS are applied simultaneously.

For this position, we are looking for candidates who have experience in numerical modelling, preferably with a background of physical geography and/or its relevant sub-disciplines (meteorology, hydrology, ecology). A part from your own project, you will work closely with other PhDs and postdocs within the Earth Systems and Global Change (ESC) group, which studies the impact of future climate change on the global water cycle and its effects on water usage for food, energy, and the environment. As a PhD candidate in our group, you will join the PhD program of the WIMEK graduate school. This is a unique opportunity to work on cutting-edge research in a dynamic and supportive team, while also contributing to global sustainability efforts.

The selected candidate is expected to finish the 4 year project by writing a PhD thesis that contains a series of scientific papers, including peer-reviewed journal articles and international conference proceedings.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the Water Systems and Global Change Group which is led by Prof. Fulco Ludwig. You will be co-supervised by Dr. Ho Huu Loc (Josh).

Function Requirements

• completion of (or about to complete) an MSc degree in geography, hydrology, environmental sciences, ecology, earth sciences, or a closely related field;
• passionate about working on Nature-based Solutions;
• demonstrated enthusiasm for working with large datasets and numerical models;
• ability or willingness to learn about different modelling packages for different earth subsystems, including weather (or meteorology), catchment hydrology, and ecology;
• good organizational and communication skills;
• basic knowledge on nature-based solutions and its interactions with air, water and land;
• Ability to publish research results in peer-reviewed academic journals.

You should also possess:

• proven skills with scripting and programming (e.g. Python, R or C);
• proven knowledge and skills regarding research design, quantitative, qualitative and/or spatial-temporal methods for data collection, and quantitative (statistical) and/or qualitative approaches to data analysis and presentation;
• enthusiasm for collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of researchers with diverse backgrounds and disciplines;
• the entry requirements of the WUR PhD program;
• Excellent communication skills in English.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here

Contactinformation

For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Ho Huu Loc (Josh), Assistant Professor, telephone: +31 6299 0 2931 or by e-mail: josh.ho@wur.nl; or Prof. Fulco Ludwig (Chair holder) by email: fulco.ludwig@wur.nl

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, corporate recruiter, by email: noorien.abbas@wur.nl