1 Postdoctoral Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer in Netherlands | VU University Amsterdam

Globally, floods cause huge socioeconomics impacts each year, both in terms of economic losses and loss of lives. In order to develop effective strategies to reduce these impacts, tools are needed to empower stakeholders to assess flood risk at the global scale and to examine how certain measures and strategies can be used to reduce that risk. In 2015, IVM and the Aqueduct consortium launched the first version of the Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer in order to enable such assessments. The Analyzer is based on the GLOFRIS global flood risk assessment model.

In the coming years, the Aqueduct model will be expanded to include coastal flood risk, land subsidence, a wide range of adaptation strategies (including their costs and benefits), and improved representations of both exposure and vulnerability. Within the project IVM will develop a database of global flood protection standards, develop methods to assess the costs and benefits of adaptation to flood risk, and play a key role in simulating flood risk under future scenarios of climate and land use change.

Therefore, we are looking to hire a post-doc researcher to work on the further development of both the Aqueduct tool and the underlying GLOFRIS flood risk model. The post-doc research will include carrying out simulations of both river and coastal flood risk, developing methods to assess the costs and benefits of various adaptation strategies, and integrating these analyses with the hydrological and land use simulations of the partners in the consortium. The post-doc researcher will also work with the consortium and potential end-users to develop the final user-interface.

Requirements

The candidate must have

• a PhD degree in hydrology, climate science, geography, civil engineering, or similar.
• good programming skills;
• an affinity with working with large datasets (e.g. hydrological, climate, risk data, etc.) and in interdisciplinary research.
• Knowledge of GIS systems is required. The position involves collaboration and communication in a larger research team of researchers from other disciplines involved in international research projects.

Conditions of employment

The appointment will be 0.8 fte for an initial duration of 12 months. It is our expectation that the project will be funded for a further period after this time.

The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and depending on experience, range from a minimum of € 3,007 gross per month up to a maximum of € 3,793 gross per month (salary scale 10) based on a fulltime employment, and includes a travel budget for working and conference visits.

Organisation

VU University Amsterdam is one of the leading institutions for higher education in Europe and aims to be inspiring, innovative, and committed to societal welfare. It compromises twelve faculties and has teaching facilities for 25,000 students.

Department

The Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) has a vacancy for a postdoctoral researchers for the research project.

The Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) has a vacancy for a postdoctoral researcher for the research project. IVM is an interdisciplinary research institute at VU University that sits within the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences (FALW). The position will be housed in the Department of Water and Climate Risk, a dynamic group of 25 international researchers, faculty members and PhD students. Our researchers share the same interest in studying hydrological- and climate processes, and how these processes lead to risks and opportunities for society, the economy, and the environment. A defining characteristic of the department is a multidisciplinary approach, which combines expertise from natural sciences with knowledge from the fields of economics, e-Science and geography.

Global scale flood risk analysis: improving the Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer

The post-doc position will be funded as part of a project to further develop the Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. The project will be carried out at Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences of the VU University Amsterdam. The project will be carried out in a consortium with the World Resources Institute, Deltares, Utrecht University, and PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.