项目介绍

2026年2月1日

Mission

The Sustainable River Engineering, Energy, and Morphodynamics (STREEM) Lab at EPFL, led by Prof. Mirko Musa, is looking for a PhD student to contribute to research on reservoir sedimentation within the context of hydropower operations. Dams profoundly alter sediment continuity, leading to reservoir accumulation, infrastructure risks, and downstream ecological impacts—challenges that are expected to intensify under climate change. This project aims to advance the understanding of sediment transport processes at both watershed and reservoir scales and to develop an integrated modelling framework capable of evaluating sediment routing, deposition, and release strategies at hydropower dams.

As a PhD student, you will investigate the physical mechanisms governing reservoir sedimentation while evaluating strategies to mitigate its impacts. You will contribute to the development of modelling approaches that support optimized dam operations, balancing infrastructure protection, energy production, storage capacity, and environmental objectives. The research will explore sediment management strategies—including controlled releases—to enhance downstream continuity while minimizing turbine abrasion and reservoir infilling. Through this work, you will help generate actionable knowledge for more resilient and sustainable hydropower systems.

This PhD project is part of the HORIZON Europe collaborative project TIES—Transforming Hydropower: Integrating Flexibility, Ecosystem Health, and Societal Needs. The project aims to develop an integrated innovation framework that enhances operational flexibility, climate resilience, environmental sustainability, and societal acceptance. It brings together a large consortium of academic partners—TU Wien, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Università degli Studi di Padova, Università degli Studi di Torino, Univerza v Ljubljani, and IST-ID Portugal—along with several non-academic organizations.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Conduct original research on reservoir sedimentation and sediments connectivity under the guidance of Prof. Musa.
• Develop a modelling framework to study sediment dynamics within reservoirs and sediment routing through dams.
• Lead and contribute to academic publications and conference presentations.
• Have full responsibility for your own dissertation
• Complete coursework as required by the doctoral program.
• Contribuite to lab activities, including co-supervision of MSc students and teaching assistance.

Profile

• Strong interest in hydraulic engineering, sediment transport, and hydropower.
• Experience numerical modelling and programming (e.g., MATLAB, Python).
• Familiarity with hydrological and sediment routing modeling (e.g., SWAT, CASCADE, etc.) is considered an asset.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Creative, enthusiastic, and willing to learn new things.
• Strong written and oral English communication skills, with willingness to further develop them in an academic environment.
• Experience with academic research and publication is a plus

We offer

• World-class and international learning/working environment at EPFL main campus 
• Competitive salary and excellent educational conditions
• Opportunity to perform state-of-the-art research in one of the most dynamic scientific institutions in Europe.
• Opportunity to be part of a European-sponsor project in collaboration with several other European institutions
• Opportunities to attend and present work at international conference.

Informations

For the application via the EPFL recruiting platform, please submit:

• CV with a publication list (if applicable)
• A brief (max 1 page) letter of motivation/interest in the project
• Grades from bachelor and master degrees
• Contact details of 2-3 references