20 Aug 2026
Job Information
- Organisation/Company: University of Szczecin
- Department: The Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences
- Research Field: Geography » Economic geography; Geography » Human geography; Environmental science » Global change; Environmental science » Water science
Offer Description
European riverine and coastal floodplains are highly managed systems, where different human actions can both increase or decrease flood risk. For instance, the “levee effect” could reduce the effectiveness of structural flood protection by encouraging exposure growth and lack of individual precaution, increasing impacts when a severe flood eventually overwhelms the dikes. On the other hand, frequent flooding has been shown to reduce vulnerability through adoption of local precautionary measures (“adaptation effect”). Current European projections of future flood risk under climate change do not consider these types of effects and other dynamic interactions in floodplains. Though such feedbacks could be captured by socio-hydrological models, those have been so far limited to small case studies due to lack of data. The aim of this project is to develop a European Socio-Hydrological Model (EuroSoHo) to quantify past and future flood risk dynamics across the continent. This probabilistic, system dynamics model will be calibrated on historical (1950–2025) data on flood occurrence, their impacts (fatalities, population affected, economic loss), floodplain exposure changes, and large-scale flood prevention schemes across more than 1400 regions in 42 European countries. The model will incorporate multiple socio-hydrological parameters (e.g. awareness, preparedness, reactiveness or risk aversion), quantifying the historical baseline of the society’s reaction to floods. EuroSoHo will then be able to project the future evolution (2026–2100) of the human-water system in Europe under the expected changes of both hydroclimatic and socioeconomic forcing. The system-wide positive and negative effects of improving dikes, extending individual preparedness, restrictions on exposure growth, and relocation will be quantified with EuroSoHo. The results will indicate which combination of adaptation strategies would be most effective in each region given their local-scale costs and benefits. https://eurosoho.eu/
Where to apply
E-mail: olga.terefenko@usz.edu.pl
Requirements
Research Field: Geosciences » Other
Education Level: PhD or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
- PhD degree in a topic related to hydrological extremes, flood hazard, or flood risk, obtained before the starting date.
- Strong background in geospatial analysis and statistics.
- Proficiency in spoken and written English.
- Proven record of publishing first-author scientific papers in journals from the JCR list.
- Good programming skills (e.g. Python, R or MATLAB) and experience in handling large datasets.
- High motivation to work and continuously develop scientific and personal skills.
- Good communication and problem-solving skills.
- Experience in teamwork, especially in an international setting.
- Ability to participate in work-related travel domestically and abroad.
Languages: English
Level: Excellent
Research Field: Geosciences » Other
Additional Information
Benefits
- Work in dynamic and expanding scientific group with excellent research environment and international cooperation promoting publications in high impact journals.
- Fixed-term contract for 36 months with base salary of 11000-12000 PLN gross per month with full benefits of an academic employee including 36 annual leave days and supplementary payments in accordance to applicable laws.
- Financial support for short scientific missions and conference attendance.
- Support in obtaining a PhD degree.
- Support in preparing own grant applications and engaging in scientific and personal development.
Eligibility criteria
- CV with the information about participation in research projects, list of publications and/or conferences plus technical skills.
- Cover letter describing your academic interests and understanding of the project’s topic.
- Copy of PhD degree diploma or a confirmation from the university that the PhD thesis has been submitted.
- Consent to the processing of personal data. PDF format with a scanned original signature confirming of reading the information.
Selection process
The Recruitment Committee will consider the following criteria:
1. Competencies in specific tasks within the research project.
2. Previous scientific achievements.
3. Candidates' participation in research projects/teams.
The best candidates may be invited to an online interview.
We reserve the right to contact and respond only to selected candidates.
The position will be offered to the candidate with the highest rating from the Recruitment Committee.
Recruitment results will be published within 30 days of the competition closing date.
If the best candidate does not sign the contract due to withdrawal, we reserve the right to select the next candidate from the ranking list.
The remaining candidates who were not selected in the competition will be notified within 7 days of the competition closing date.
Additional comments
Application forms are available for download at: http://dso.usz.edu.pl/druki/.
In the subject please write: "EuroSoHo PhD student".
Candidates who receive a negative answer about the result of recruitment are entitled to lodge an appeal within 7 days. The appeal should be addressed to e-mail address: olga.terefenko@usz.edu.pl
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available: 1
- Company/Institute: The Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences
- Country: Poland
- City: Szczecin
- Postal Code: 70-383
- Street: Mickiewicza 18
Contact
- City: Szczecin
- Website: http://usz.edu.pl
- Street: Mickiewicza 18
- Postal Code: 70-383
- E-Mail: olga.terefenko@usz.edu.pl