Assistant Professor Multi-scale hydrological assessment through modelling and data integration

Job description

Freshwater is crucial to sustain life, economic development and the environment, but it is also a vulnerable resource whose availability and quality varies enormously around the globe. We need to understand the natural and socio-economic processes that affect water resources and develop solutions for water scarcity, flooding and pollution.

The water cycle from local to continental scale undergoes rapid changes due to anthropogenic influences that affect land use and climate. Urbanization, land degradation, deforestation and land use interventions contribute to temporal and spatial changes in the water cycle and water balances, and often cause that water budgets are not, or will not be, sustainable to serve society. The effects of climate change may adversely accelerate water budget changes as already experienced in many countries. Simulation models for water resources and impact assessments often give unreliable answers due to a lack of adequate model input data. To improve multi-scale water resources assessment, we have excess to much more data than ever before: contemporary data including hydrometeorological high-resolution satellite data, satellite data on surface water and groundwater bodies and storage, climate circulation model data, but also data that indicate water stress in crops and natural vegetation, near-surface soil moisture and evaporation rates.

You will focus on developing artificial intelligence-based and numerical methods for the assimilation of multiple space-time resolved data (satellite, climate models, field data) in local to continental water resources modelling and assessment. Data assimilation techniques including probabilistic blending and fusion and multi-objective assessment approaches are possible ways to advance.

You will teach at bachelor and master levels in courses related to Earth and Environmental Science and Civil Engineering, guide bachelor and master students in their thesis writing, be daily co-supervisor of PhD students, engage in management tasks and acquire research funding. You will have a workplace in both Water Resources (WRS) of the Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) and Multidisciplinary Water Management(MWM) of the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET). There will be strong collaboration within WRS and MWM, and other departments of the Faculties of ITC and ET. Collaboration with other Dutch and international universities is encouraged.

Your profile

• A PhD degree in a relevant field, such as satellite-based water resources modelling, hydrological modelling, data assimilation or artificial intelligence-based methods
• Interest in holistic water cycle assessments and the development of web-based simulation tools
• Affinity with cloud-based computing with large datasets and machine learning techniques
• An engineering, natural sciences or environmental sciences background, a multi-disciplinary focus and strong system analytical skills
• A passion for education and the ability to develop high-quality education materials and a dedicated supervisor for graduate students and early-career researchers
• Embrace Open Science and FAIR data principles
• A teamwork and inclusiveness mentality: you enjoy collaborating to develop high-quality research outputs in a multicultural academic environment and you like working in interdisciplinary contexts
• An excellent command of English. Knowledge of, and/or willingness to learn Dutch is an advantage

Our offer

• An inspiring multidisciplinary, international and academic environment. The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda
• Position for initially one year (full-time), after which your position can become permanent, subject to a successful evaluation
• An introduction programme, with personalized support and ample opportunities to learn and grow into your new role as part of your professional development.
• Gross monthly salary between € 4,332.- and € 4,786.- (depending on experience and qualifications, job profile Assistant Professor, level 2). This is the maximum start salary with growth opportunities
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%
• Excellent support for professional and personal development
• A solid pension scheme
• A total of 41 holiday days in case of full-time employment
• Costs for moving to Enschede may be reimbursed

Information and application

For more information, you can contact Dr Martijn Booij (e-mail: m.j.booij@utwente.nl) or Dr Tom Rientjes (e-mail: t.h.m.rientjes@utwente.nl). You are also invited to visit the ITC homepage or the ET homepage.

Please submit your application before 30 October 2023. Your application has to include (i) a letter outlining your motivation and fit for the position, and (ii) a CV with a list of publications and two references. 1st round (online) interviews will be held in the second half of November 2023; 2nd round (onsite) interviews will be held in the first half of December 2023.

About the department

The Department of Water Resources (WRS)  studies water systems and their relation with land use and climate through remote sensing, field instrumentation and modelling. We aim at capacity building of communities of water professionals, scientists and engineers that work toward a sustainable and resilient living environment.

The Chair group of Multidisciplinary Water Management (MWM) develops and applies holistic approaches which promote sustainable and resilient management of water systems. Particularly, we study the dynamics of supply and demand of water resources in interaction with climate, land use, energy transition and agricultural management as well as production, trade and consumption. The methods we use include hydrological modelling, water footprint and life cycle assessment, and integrated assessment.

Both departments understand water-related grand challenges as a shared responsibility, so we engage different partners and sectors to develop both science-based and useful solutions. To support decision-making, we provide data, models and tools and share our knowledge in academic teaching and science dissemination.

The departments work in a similar field of science, but have a different emphasis and complementary expertise. WRS focusses more on global capacity building and (remote) sensing, while MWM focusses more on engineering solutions, integral water management, and footprint assessment. This position will strengthen the collaboration between the two groups.

About the organisation

The Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) provides international postgraduate education, research and project services in the field of geo-information science and earth observation. Our mission is capacity development, where we apply, share and facilitate the effective use of geo-information and earth observation knowledge and tools for tackling global wicked problems. Our purpose is to enable our many partners around the world to track and trace the impact – and the shifting causes and frontiers – of today’s global challenges. Our vision is of a world in which researchers, educators, and students collaborate across disciplinary and geographic divides with governmental and non-governmental organisations, institutes, businesses, and local populations to surmount today’s complex global challenges and to contribute to sustainable, fair, and digital societies.