Project overview: Floods are the costliest and most widespread natural disaster in Canada, affecting communities and ecosystems from coast to coast to coast. A key challenge is that hydrologic processes in Canada are widely different, leading to an extensive range of flood-generating mechanisms across the country. In addition, current flood hazard mapping efforts are fragmented across jurisdictions and often rely on closed-source models that require substantial manual effort and are not always well suited to Canadian river basins.
Open-FRANC (Open-Source Flood Risk Analysis Network for Canada) aims to address these challenges by developing a Canada-specific, open-source flood modeling ecosystem. The project will unify floodplain modeling capabilities for fluvial, coastal, and compound flooding nationwide. Open-FRANC will also develop predictive tools and scenario-based hazard products to support federal flood policy, enhance resilience to climate-driven floods, and enable evidence-based decision-making at multiple levels. It is a collaborative initiative of six leading Canadian universities.
Available positions: The students will contribute to the following research areas:
- MSc position: Mapping/modeling of open water floods and ice jam hazards.
- PhD position 1: Hydraulic modeling of open water and ice jam floods.
- PhD position 2: Integration of hydrological and hydraulic models.
The MSc position and PhD position 1 will be co-supervised by Dr. Jennifer Nafziger and Dr. Yuntong She, and PhD position 2 will be supervised by Dr. Hongli Liu.
Candidate qualifications: We welcome applications from candidates with backgrounds in hydrology, hydraulics, and process-based modeling. We value diversity and encourage applications from all qualified candidates. Please note:
- PhD applicants must hold (or be completing) a Master’s degree, and direct applications from Bachelor’s graduates are not eligible.
- Please review our graduate program admission requirements before inquiring.
- International applicants should ensure they meet the required English proficiency standards before applying.
Application instructions: Please respond to the questions below and upload the requested materials. Review of applications will begin on January 19, 2026, and will continue on a rolling basis until the positions are filled. We appreciate all applications; however, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
