Details
PhD Project
This PhD project will study the knowledge and values of traditional irrigators, comparing how their understanding of water management and ethical premises differs from those embedded in scientific models of irrigation. The candidate will conduct fieldwork in traditional irrigation systems of Spain and collect data through one-on-one interviews with irrigators. A key element will be to identify the factors that the irrigators prioritize when deciding how much water to allocate to crops, the causal relations that they believe exist between these factors, and summarize the data using cognitive maps. Ultimately, the candidate will produce social maps that will inform on the consensus and disagreements among irrigators on variables and values conditioning water use in irrigation.
The precise scope of the project will be finally defined between the successful candidate and the PhD supervisor/s after the candidate has been appointed. The successful candidate will hence be able to shape the PhD project to their specific interests.
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Project background
The successful candidate will join the £1.7M Frontier Research Grant project DAWN: Illuminating Deep Uncertainties in the Estimation of Irrigation Water Withdrawals, funded by the UK Research and Innovation. DAWN merges philosophy, anthropology, hydrology and mathematical modelling to explore how ambiguities, vaguenesses and pluralities of perspectives affect our understanding of water use in irrigation. To check DAWN’s proof-of-concept is summarized in these publications [1–6].
The candidate will be based at the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham. S/he will be supervised by Dr Arnald Puy, another scholar from Birmingham and one scholar from a Spanish university or research institution.
The candidate is expected to join the University of Birmingham and start the PhD research in September 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Project benefits
1. A fully funded 3-year PhD studentship that will cover home tuition fees and provide the student with a tax-free stipend according to UKRI rates. There is also the possibility of extending the studentship up to a fourth-year, if need be. We will also cover international fees in case we appoint an international applicant.
2. Funding available to cover attendance to congresses, workshops or training courses.
3. Integration into an interdisciplinary team with a wide international network, with extraordinary opportunities for career development.
4. The opportunity to conduct ethnographic/anthropogical research to address one of the most pressing societal challenges ahead: ensuring a sustainable and ethical use of freshwater resources in our current context of climate change and water scarcity.
5. An impressive range of benefits to help the student settle and stay at the University, and deal with problems that may affect their learning through professional advice and help. Click here for more details.
Student profile
1. We are looking for candidates with a skeptical mind, used to think out-of-the-box and willing to go out of their comfort zones as the PhD project will be interdisciplinary by design.
2. We especially encourage women to apply.
3. Applicants should have a good first degree (at least a 2:1 Honours Degree) in a relevant subject. Candidates with Masters in Environmental Sciences, Anthropology, Political Ecology, Sustainability or cognate disciplines are especially encouraged to apply.
4. The candidate must be proficient in Spanish; very good knowledge of Catalan will also be valued.
5. The candidate does not need to have finished the Masters by the time of application. We expect the candidate to have completed his/her master studies before starting over in Birmingham.
6. Both UK-based and international students are encouraged to apply.
7. Programming skills (in R) will also be valued, although training will be provided within the context of the PhD as needed.
How to apply?
Please send the following documents via e-mail to Dr Arnald Puy [a.puy@bham.ac.uk; with “DAWN: PhD studentship application (traditional knowledge of irrigators)” in the e-mail subject line]:
1. Application form filled out with the required information. You can download the application form here.
2. CV (2 page max) with details on your grades and studies.
3. Details of two academic referees. Please note that we will not contact your referees for references. You must arrange for references to be submitted by your referees.
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Please apply as soon as possible as we will evaluate applications as they come through. We reserve the right to remove the advert if suitable candidate/s are found before the closing date (31 January 2024). Interviews with shortlisted applicants will take place at the beginning of February 2024. The successful candidate is expected to take up the post in September 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Funding Notes
DAWN is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee (EP/Y02463X/1).
References
[1] A. Puy, R. Sheikholeslami, H. V. Gupta, J. W. Hall, B. Lankford, S. Lo Piano, J. Meier, F. Pappenberger, A. Porporato, G. Vico, and A. Saltelli. “The delusive accuracy of global irrigation water withdrawal estimates”. Nature Communications 13 (2022), p. 3183.
[2] A. Puy and A. Saltelli. “Mind the Hubris: Complexity Can Misfire”. The Politics of Modelling. Numbers Between Science and Policy. Ed. by A. Saltelli and M. D. Fiore. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023, pp. 51–68.
[3] A. Puy, P. Beneventano, S. A. Levin, S. Lo Piano, T. Portaluri, and A. Saltelli. “Models with higher effective dimensions tend to produce more uncertain estimates”. Science Advances 8.42 (2022), eabn9450.
[4] A. Saltelli, G. Bammer, I. Bruno, E. Charters, M. Di Fiore, E. Didier, W. Nelson Espeland, J. Kay, S. Lo Piano, D. Mayo, R. Pielke Jr, T. Portaluri, T. M. Porter, A. Puy, I. Rafols, J. R. Ravetz, E. Reinert, D. Sarewitz, P. B. Stark, A. Stirling, J. van der Sluijs, and P. Vineis. “Five ways to ensure that models serve society: a manifesto”. Nature 582.7813 (2020), pp. 482–484.
[5] A. Puy, E. Borgonovo, S. Lo Piano, S. A. Levin, and A. Saltelli. “Irrigated areas drive irrigation water withdrawals”. Nature Communications 12.1 (2021), p. 4525.
[6] A. Puy, M. Massimi, B. Lankford, and A. Saltelli. “Irrigation modelling needs better epistemology”. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment (2023).
