Are you interested in the role of mountains in the global hydrological cycle? And in what happens to downstream water supply when mountains change? Do you like working with numerical models? Then this PhD might be your next step!
A large part of the freshwater that sustains human societies is generated in the mountains. The seasonal melting of snow and ice supports agriculture, industries, households and the environment downstream. However, mountainous regions are changing rapidly, as they are hit hard by climate change. The impact of these changes on downstream water users is poorly understood. Global hydrological models rarely account for complex mountain processes. However, understanding how mountain processes influence global water availability is important to address sustainable water use.
We are looking for a PhD student who is interested in the link between changing mountain processes and increasing water use downstream. This position is part of the project ‘MountAInWater’ in which a consortium of international, interdisciplinary researchers collectively aims to answer the question How is the water supply from the world’s mountain ranges changing and which non-linear feedbacks may cause unprecedented societal impacts?
As a PhD student at Wageningen University you will apply a large scale hydrology-crop model in river basins that are originating from snow and ice covered mountains.
Your duties and responsibilities include:
- Analyse how missing complex mountain processes in global precipitation products and hydrological models affect water availability estimates.
- Quantify the importance of mountainwater for agriculture and ecosystems globally, by analyzing how meltwater flows interact with crop growing seasons and environmental flow requirements in basins with large irrigation demand and high meltwater flows.
- Run the hydrology-crop model in combination with mountain streamflow (from high resolution mountain hydrology models) for selected basins to analyse mountain water contributions to downstream river flow, agricultural water use, and sustaining ecosystems for hotspot areas.
- Using a global mountain reanalysis dataset to evaluate for all mountain areas globally their contribution to downstream river flows, agriculture and ecosystems.
You will publish your research findings in high ranking scientific journals and present it at conferences.
You will also be asked to contribute occasionally to education, by helping in the supervision of MSc students that work on their thesis projects, and supporting in courses.
You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair Water Systems and Global Change. You will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Hester Biemans, Dr. Manoj Khaniya and a third supervisor tbd.
Requirements
You are / You have:
- enthusiasm for the research topic;
- a MSc degree in the field of Hydrology, Crop Science, Earth System Science, Environmental Science, Climate Science, or a related field;
- a MSc thesis related to quantitative assessment of water- and/or food security;
- demonstrated experience in working with large datasets and large-scale numerical modelling in context of global change;
- experience with scripting and programming, eg in R, Python or Matlab and the willingness to learn a new programming language (C);
- creativity in communication and visualisation of model results in maps and figures;
- some experience with numerical modelling on High Performance Computing Platforms is a pre;
- willingness to work in multidisciplinary and internationally teams;
- a high level of English, both oral and written.
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.
Conditions of employment
Fixed-term contract: 18 months.
Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:
- Partially paid parental leave;
- working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
- there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
- a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
- excellent pension scheme.
In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3.204,- per month rising to € 4.051,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.
We encourage development and internal mobility within our organisation. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.
You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment.
Employer
Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.
Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!
We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.
Additional information
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.
Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.
Join us and come work at WUR
At Wageningen University & Research, you work at improving the quality of life. Together with your colleagues, you seek to answer the challenges within our domain 'healthy food and living environment.'
