项目介绍

2024年12月10日

Function

Are you interested in how computer models in water management shape policy and vice versa? Do you want to contribute to societally relevant research in the field of water management for case studies across three countries? Do you want to be part of an interdisciplinary research team? Then we may have the perfect opportunity for you!

We are currently looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to join our team (4 years, full time, fully funded) at the Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group at Wageningen University to explore the social, political and institutional processes that contribute to the establishment of legitimacy of decision support models.

Computer models facilitate anticipatory governance. But models are not neutral – they conceal value-laden choices, such as which processes and system boundaries are represented in the conceptual model,  the model approaches, data sets used, and model applications. This implies that certain perspectives are favored by the model. Since decisions based on such value-laden models have real-world consequences, it is essential to understand how these models obtained the legitimacy to serve as policy advisors and the different consequences of this for distinct groups in society and ecosystems. The LEGIT project aims to uncover the factors and processes through which water-management models acquire legitimacy to support decisions. This will be done with an interdisciplinary research team. 

In this PhD project, as part of the LEGIT project, you will investigate how water management models obtain the authority to serve as policy advisors for three different cases in which models are used to support water-management related decisions: one in the Netherlands, one in the US, and one in Australia. The research will explore political, social, and institutional processes, to understand how model legitimacy is established. This includes interviews with decision makers and other stakeholders. You will be part of an interdisciplinary team, where other team members will focus on the modellers and the model itself. Intense collaboration within the team is foreseen, including conducting the fieldwork abroad.

For this position, we are looking for enthusiastic candidates who have a background in qualitative social sciences methods. Openness to interdisciplinarity and collaborating with natural scientists is a must. Affinity or basic experience with coding or modelling and/or experience with water management or governance is a big plus. As a PhD candidate in our group, you will join the PhD program of the WIMEK graduate school. The selected candidate is expected to finish the 4 year project by writing a PhD thesis that contains a series of peer-reviewed journal articles. 

Specifically, you will:

• develop your own research proposal;
• identify the relevant stakeholders in the computer model legitimation process for cases in the Netherlands, the United States, and Australia. This includes fieldwork of several months at location; 
• scrutinize social, political, and institutional factors influencing model legitimacy for these three cases;
• collaborate with other team members who have a natural sciences background and who will focus on evaluating modellers and the model itself;
• write scientific publications as part of your PhD dissertation;
• take part in (international) workshops and conferences, and engage in the organization of activities related to the research project, such as outreach to decision makers;
• engage actively in the activities and collaborations of the research team;
• spend up to 10% of your time on education and supervision of BSc/MSc students.

Function Requirements

You have:

• a completed (or about to be completed) MSc of MA degree in critical social sciences, such as Political Ecology or Science and Technology Studies;
• a strong motivation for interdisciplinary team-work, collaborating with natural scientists and making advances through intense collaboration. This requires continuous reflexivity;
• a strong motivation to understand the role of computer models in decision making
• motivation to plan and conduct fieldwork in the Netherlands and beyond;
• preferably some experience or affinity with coding, modelling and/or water management or governance;
• good organizational and communication skills.

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.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the  Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group (HWM), a dynamic and committed team of 14 academics, 5 support staff, 3 postdocs and 29 PhD researchers. Your main supervisor from this group will be dr Lieke Melsen. The focus of this group is on hydrology and environmental hydraulics, which we combine to understand and quantify hydrological processes in catchments, aquifers, rivers and deltas. While we have a clear natural sciences focus, this PhD position in the LEGIT project takes a different perspective. Therefore, this position will be shared with the Water Resources Management Group, a highly interdisciplinary group focusing on different dimension of water management and governance in international contexts. From this group, you will be supervised by dr Jeroen Vos. WRM research investigates the social and political construction of water technologies, infrastructure, models and policies. The investigations are based on thorough field research in collaboration with local stakeholders, and critically reflect on water engineering practices and water policy discourses. 

Contactinformation

For more information about this position, please contact  Lieke Melsen, lieke.melsen@wur.nl

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