Job description
The Congo Basin (CB) hosts the world’s second-largest tropical rainforests, serving as a crucial engine for the global water cycle. However, local and downstream responses to climate change and land-use change within the CB are still poorly understood. This project aims to investigate the CB’s water cycle autonomy—its capacity to sustain precipitation through self-supply of evaporation amidst deforestation, global warming, and drought. Our approach will integrate global climate model (CESM) simulations under varying vegetation scenarios with state-of-the-art moisture tracking techniques. We are seeking a Post Doctoral scientist and a PhD researcher to join us in addressing this critical scientific challenge. Importantly, the PhD position is shared 50/50 between Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, co-supervised by both Prof. Wim Thierry (bclimate) and Prof. Diego Miralles (H-CEL).
Desired skills and experience
- Research teams: Hydro-Climate Extremes Lab (H-CEL), Ghent University, Belgium (PhD, PostDoc) | bclimate group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium (PhD)
- Project: Ecohydrological and climatic shifts in the Congo Basin (Cong’eau project) | iBOF
- Location: Ghent (PostDoc) | Brussels and Ghent (Joint PhD)
- Starting date: March–December 2025
- Contract length: 3 years (PostDoc) | 4 years (Joint PhD)
- Profile | PostDoc researcher:
– PhD in Atmospheric, Climate Sciences, or related fields
– Proficiency in numerical modelling and computer programming (including Python)
– Prior experience analysing large datasets
– Preferred experience in climate modelling and/or moisture tracking
– Excellent English proficiency, both oral and written
– Creative, critical and analytical mindset
– Strong ability to work collaboratively in teams
- Profile | PhD researcher:
– MSc degree in climate science, environmental science/engineering, geography, hydrology, physics, statistics, applied math, computer science, or related fields
– Strong interest in weather and climate research
– Excellent knowledge of computer programming (e.g., Python) and data analysis
– Passionate about analytical research and quantitative methods
– Creative personality, enjoying technical and scientific challenges
– Strong ability to work collaboratively in teams
– Good command of spoken and written English
– Eager to communicate scientific results to fellow scientists and broader public
- Our offer:
– Stimulating research environment within both H-CEL and bclimate
– Opportunity to collaborate with leading international institutes both in Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo within the project consortium
– A long-term contract with full-time wage in accordance with Flemish University indexes
– Family-friendly employers with competitive working conditions, where attention is paid to work-life balance
– Exciting working environment, cultural diversity, and attractive offers and benefits
– Multiple benefits, including: (a) reimbursement for your home–work commute with public transport or compensation if comuting by bike; (b) cost-free hospitalisation insurance; (c) space to form your job content and continuously learn; (d) excellent facilities for sport and exercise; (e) ecocheques; (f) flexibility to combine office work with teleworking; (g) exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of annual leave
- General conditions:
– Candidates from outside Belgium are welcome and expected to relocate to the country
– Expected weekly in-person attendance at both H-CEL (Ghent) and bclimate (Brussels)
– Possibilities for participation in international conferences and workshops
– Applications will be reviewed by an internal committee from both universities
– The positions will remain open until the ideal candidate is found
– We actively encourage candidates from any underrepresented group in academia who can enrich our institute with unique perspectives and experiences
- Application procedure:
– PostDoc: Submit a one-page motivation letter and a professional CV in a single PDF file to Damian.InsuaCosta@ugent.be with ‘iBOF PostDoc application’ in the email subject
– For PhD: Submit a one-page motivation letter and a professional CV in a single PDF file to wim.thiery@vub.be and diego.miralles@ugent.be, with ‘iBOF PhD application’ in the email subject
About the employer
The PhD position is shared 50/50 between Ghent University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The PhD candidate will be co-supervised by both Prof. Wim Thierry (bclimate) and Prof. Diego Miralles (H-CEL).
The post-doctoral position will be based at Ghent University in the group of Prof. Diego Miralles (H-CEL).
Areas of Research
- Atmospheric Physics & Meteorology
- Climate Modeling
- Hydrology
