PhD Climate Risk Modelling accounting for adaptation

Do you want to help Europe prepare for future droughts? Are you interested in climate risk modelling and adaptation? Do you enjoy interdisciplinary research and international collaboration?

PhD Climate Risk Modelling accounting for adaptation

Europe needs more robust, systemic, and consistent climate risk assessments at regional and local levels to guide ambitious and transformative adaptation. Yet, only a few regional and local authorities have carried out a climate risk assessment, and many of these are focused on direct impacts and single hazard risk, are incomplete or outdated, and not mutually comparable.

As a PhD candidate, your goal is to develop new methods for assessing climate risk due to consecutive droughts and at different scales in Europe. Based on these risk assessments, you will develop methods to assess the impacts of adaptation measures to reduce climate risk. This will be done by collecting large-scale datasets and using these data sets in a new modelling framework (GEB) which integrates Agent-Based Models, hydrological and flood models. GEB can simulate the dynamics between multiple hazard risk, how these risks impact society, the vulnerability of different sectors, and how society can respond to reduce risk through adaptation. This will enhance climate risk assessment under compound events in the EU. The work will be carried out in strong interaction with international project partners.

Your duties

• You develop multi-risk simulation models for compound and consecutive floods and droughts
• You develop new modelling tools to represent the complex systemic interactions between climate, environment, society, and human adaptation behaviour
• You assess how adaptation can reduce climate risks under different climate scenarios
• You present your research at scientific conferences and publish your results in scientific journals
• You contribute about 10% of your time to teaching and supervising in bachelor and master programs

Your profile

We are looking for a motivated candidate to develop and apply complex system models with the following profile:

• You hold a MSc degree in earth science, hydrology, computer science, environmental science, or equivalent
• You have solid scientific coding skills in Python. You are strongly motivated to acquire advanced skills in Python and in the use of high-performance computer systems
• You preferably have experience with hydrology, and affinity or experience with agent-based modelling and large-scale data processing with societal relevance
• You are able to work independently, and to collaborate with other researchers in the interdisciplinary project and research group
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

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 meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organization. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world.

• a position for at least 0.8 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. Afterwards, the intention is to extent the position for another 3-years enveloping the full PhD.
• 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

About the team

Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM)

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. A unique strength of its research is understanding sustainability problems in their social and economic context.

The department of Water and Climate Risk (WCR) studies hydrological and climate processes, and how these processes lead to risks for society, the economy and the environment. A multi-disciplinary approach defines the section, combining 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 projects, and the department is a global leading institute in flood and drought risk assessment, and risk management research.

Faculty of Science

Working at the Faculty of Science means collaborating with students, lecturers and researchers who are focused on their field, yet have a broad view of the world. Scientists and students work on fundamental and complex societal issues for a sustainable, healthy and just future. The academic education and research are highly experimental, technical and interdisciplinary in nature, with extensive collaboration with leading scientific institutes and industry.