PhD: Impact-based forecasting of compound heat/drought events in the Netherlands

Are you keen to contribute to our understanding of and resilience to compound heat or drought events? Do you want to carry out scientific research that supports the development of early warning systems? Then we are looking for you!

Jouw functie

Heat-/drought-related events can have substantial impacts in countries typically not accustomed to these natural hazards, such as the Netherlands. It is therefore crucial to improve our understanding of these hazards, how they compound, and what impacts that may pose, for instance on wildfire risk, health, or agriculture.

In this role, you carry out research on impact-based forecasting of heat-/drought-related compound events in the Netherlands. Your focus is the representation of hazard-impact relationships and your results contribute to the development of operational impact-based forecasting models at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI)’s Early Warning Centre. You perform literature reviews, engage with stakeholders, researchers and modellers, and explore and develop new empirical methods to capture hazard-impact relationships. These methods can include a wide-range of approaches depending on your interest and background, for example qualitative analysis, spatial analysis, and artificial intelligence.

Your duties

• you will closely collaborate with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) Early Warning Centre and their crisis management partners to align your research outcomes
• you are expected to contribute 0.1 FTE (10% of working time) to support teaching in BSc and MSc educational programmes and supervise BSc and MSc students
• you will contribute to the scientific and public community, by working with fellow academics as well as crisis management partners in the public domain, and presenting your work at international conferences and stakeholder presentations

Jouw profiel

• you have a MSc degree in Hydrology, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Meteorology, Computer Sciences or similar
• you possess excellent skills in quantitative analysis and modelling, and have programming skills in Python or a similar programming language
• you have excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English and you are interested in doing cutting-edge scientific research

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not fully meet all the requirements.

Wat bieden wij

An interesting position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of minimum € 2.901,00 (PhD scale 85.0) and maximum € 3.707,00 (PhD scale 85.3) gross per month in the fourth year, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile PhD candidate.
• a position for at least 0.8 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. Afterwards, if there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• solid pension scheme (ABP)
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

Additionally, we also offer a PhD education programme including training for teaching assistants and courses that are part of the SENSE graduate school.

Over ons

Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM)
Established in 1971, IVM is a leading environmental research institute that is internationally recognised for its high-quality research output in a range of environmental disciplines, as well as for its interdisciplinary work. The mission of the institute is to contribute to sustainable development and care for the environment through scientific research and teaching. IVM aims to do excellent problem-oriented research that is useful to a wide range of stakeholders in the Netherlands and internationally. A unique strength of our research is to understand sustainability problems in their social and economic context. IVM’s research community works within four departments: Environmental Economics; Environmental Geography, Environmental Policy Analysis; and Water and Climate Risk. Since 2001 IVM has been part of the Faculty of Science at VU Amsterdam (legal name Stichting VU).

The department of Water and Climate Risk (WCR) studies hydrological and climate processes, and how these processes lead to risks and opportunities for society, the economy, and the environment. A defining characteristic of the department is a multi-disciplinary approach that combines expertise from natural sciences with knowledge from the fields of economics, e-Science and geography. This approach has led to a unique research portfolio of water and climate risk projects, and the department is a global leading institute in flood and drought risk assessment, and risk management research.

Faculty of Science
Researchers and students at VU Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science tackle fundamental and complex scientific problems to help pave the way for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, and from molecules to the moon: we cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. Our teaching and research have a strong experimentally technical, computational and interdisciplinary nature.

We work on new solutions guided by value-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies. We are committed to research, valorisation and training socially engaged citizens of the world who will make valuable contributions to a sustainable, healthy future.

Are you interested in joining the Faculty of Science? You will join undergraduate students, PhD candidates and researchers at the biggest sciences faculty in the Netherlands. You will combine a professional focus with a broad view of the world. We are proud of our collegial working climate, characterised by committed staff, a pragmatic attitude and engagement in the larger whole. The faculty is home to over 11,000 students enrolled in 40 study programmes. It employs over 1,600 professionals spread across 10 academic departments.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research.

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.