Post-doctoral Research in Water Quality Monitoring

UCD Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1, UCD School of Civil Engineering, 24 months

Applications are invited for a temporary post of a Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 within UCD School of Civil Engineering.

There is an ever-increasing need for actionable information to inform smart decision making for good management of our rivers and streams. Monitoring of water bodies is central to understanding the impacts of the relevant pressures and associated stressors that are degrading the quality in rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal waters. Hydro-chemical and biological quality assessments in Ireland have typically been based on data from manual water quality monitoring. However, continuous water quality monitoring (CWQM) approaches that embrace advances in measurement methods of and communications technologies, offer opportunities to collect significantly more granular data to assess temporal (and spatial) variability of pollutants, levels of pollution and the sources of these pollution inputs in multi-stressor environments. These data ultimately inform the implementation of mitigation measures to address persistent pollution problems. The successful candidate will join an active UCD research team in the collaborative EPA funded RESTORE project that is being coordinated by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). The candidate will work across the full RESTORE project and will have a significant role in supporting the IFI project team. The RESTORE project team will also be working closely with the EU Life Waters of Life Project team (https://www.watersoflife.ie/) to develop and implement water quality monitoring strategies across six demonstration catchments to help reverse and halt the loss of pristine river waterbodies. The successful candidate will be involved with implementing high temporal resolution sampling strategies of key parameters (and proxy/ surrogate parameters) across selected study sites that reflect a full range of catchment pressures. Upstream-downstream and before-after-control-impact (BACI) monitoring strategies will be tested. Event based sampling where pollution releases will be at their highest will be systematically targeted. The candidate will analyse collected data and model studied catchments to inform more rapid and better decision making in the context of a pressure-stressor-response conceptual framework that will be explored. Changes in hydromorphology will be monitored at study sites where appropriate (e.g. following measures that alter in-stream and/or channel boundary conditions at a reach to sub-reach scale), and suitable approaches for this will be considered as the project develops.

Fixed Salary: €45,847 per annum

Closing date: 12:00 noon (local Irish time) on 28/05/2025

Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 12:00 noon (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system. UCD are unable to accept late applications.

UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CV’s submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.

The PD1 position is intended for early stage researchers, either just after completion of a PhD or for someone entering a new area for the first time. If you have already completed your PD1 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD1, or you are an external applicant whose total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 4 years, you should not apply and should refer to PD2 posts instead.