- Contact person Deltares: Brian de Bruin
- Educational Level: WO / Master, PhD
- Deadline: 20/09/2024
- Location: Delft
- Category:Young Professionals, Professionals
Do you have a Master’s degree in marine science, environmental science or a related field and are you looking for research or PhD project? We have an exciting opportunity for you. How would you like to pioneer in research at the intersection of marine science, sustainability and conservation?
What can you expect in this PhD position
As PhD candidate you will work closely with three ongoing European projects who focused on marine sustainability and conservation. You will collaborate with project partners and stakeholders to integrate research findings and contribute to the project objectives. Specifically, the research involves the following projects:
Low-Trophic Aquaculture Initiatives: Investigating the potential for sustainable low-trophic aquaculture practices in European waters, including site selection, environmental impact, and optimization of production systems location.
Marine Protected Areas and Nature Restoration: Supporting the definition of biodiversity conservation objectives based and evaluating the effectiveness of marine protected areas in reaching these objectives, restoring degraded habitats, and enhancing ecosystem resilience in the face of environmental change.
Nature-Inclusive Design: Assessing the possibility and effectiveness of integrating ecological principles into marine infrastructure projects, such as offshore wind farms, ports, and coastal defenses, to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services.
As PhD candidate you will unravel the complexities of marine connectivity, habitat suitability, or carbon sequestration. Identify the right building blocks and apply the findings to real-world conservation and management challenges.
How? In short your main tasks are:
- Conduct research by employing modeling techniques, using Delft-3D software, data-driven algorithms and practical frameworks to support marine connectivity and ecosystem functioning patterns analysis across European case studies.
- Involve integrating environmental data, including physical, chemical, and biological parameters.
- Collaborate with project partners and stakeholders to integrate research findings and contribute to the project objectives.
- You will publish the results of your doctoral research in the form of conference papers, scientific journal articles, symposia and others. Eventually you complete your PhD thesis based on published scientific articles.*
Your research will specifically focus on:
- Analyze and simulate marine connectivity and ecosystem functioning patterns across European waters.
- Investigate habitat suitability factors for key marine species and ecosystems, considering environmental variables, anthropogenic impacts, and climate change scenarios.
- Explore the role of coastal ecosystems in carbon sequestration and climate mitigation.
- Explore opportunities for promoting low-trophic aquaculture initiatives, identifying suitable sites and assessing their ecological and economic feasibility.
- Define biodiversity conservation objectives for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
Contribute to the development and implementation of nature-inclusive design demonstration sites, aiming to integrate ecological principles into marine infrastructure projects.
Team and supervision
You work closely with your supervisor Dr. Steven Degraer Royal of the Belgian Institute of Natural Science and Guest professor at Ghent University. As well as with the project researcher whose task it is to help with the research and project management of all three EU-projects. Furthermore, you will collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, stakeholders and partners. You will be located in Delft at Deltares, where all the project leaders are stationed.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in marine science, environmental science, ecology, oceanography, or a related field.
- Strong background in quantitative methods, data analysis, and modeling techniques, with experience in GIS, statistical software, and programming languages (e.g., R, Python).
- Knowledge of marine ecosystems, connectivity dynamics, habitat suitability assessment, and carbon sequestration processes is highly desirable.
- Excellent English written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and communicate research findings to both scientific and non-scientific audiences.
Willingness to travel internationally for project meetings and visiting research sites is required.
What we offer:
- We offer a temporary position (1.0 FTE) at Deltares for the duration of the project (4-years). After this assignment, there is the option to discuss the possibilities of continuing employment within Deltares. Furthermore, we offer:
- The gross salary will be in line with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU);
- Excellent training opportunities for personal and professional growth;
- ABP average salary pension, 34 days of vacation, vitality budget and a mobility budget;
- Here you can find more information about our attractive terms of employment.
How to apply
Are you interested in this vacancy and do your qualities match the job profile? Then apply directly via the apply button and upload your CV and motivation letter. Deadline September 20. First interviews will be held in the week of October 7th. Do you have questions about the vacancy? Please contact Brian de Bruin (HR Recruitment Officer) brian.debruin@deltares.nl, +31615267686
Just finished your PhD or do you have multiple years of experience and looking for an opportunity to join this project? Check our project researcher vacancy
*It is possible to start in this position as dedicated researcher instead of PhD candidate. In that case, publishing scientific articles and promoting to Dr. is not relevant. The Terms of employment are different. More information contact the recruiter.
