Postdoc Digital Twins for Urban Resilience

ResilientHydroTwin: Participatory Integrated Digital Twin for Adaptive Urban Resilience to Water Extremities is an inter disciplinary collaborative project between Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM).

Relevance of the project: Inefficient flood management leads to property damage, loss of life, and community disruption. It also deteriorates infrastructure, resulting in increased maintenance costs. The use of data-driven, integrated, domain-specific models is crucial for effective flood prediction and response. ResilientHydroTwin project explores the feasibility and effectiveness of utilizing a digital twin for managing water-related disasters, aiming to enhance urban resilience. Central to the project is the development of a city-level digital twin that precisely models system interactions and human behavior. The goal is to establish an integrated digital twin framework that improves understanding of a city's interconnected systems, particularly during flood events. The digital twin will be instrumental in designing both hard and soft adaptation strategies. During extreme weather conditions, the digital twin will gather data, functioning as a living laboratory to assess the effectiveness of these adaptation measures in increasing urban resilience. Additionally, the project examines how digital twins can facilitate collaborative governance in managing water extremes through the identification and implementation of strategies that promote multidisciplinary collaboration and co-creation. This includes facilitating the adoption of digital twin technology for flood risk management, considering the interplay of social, organizational, and governance factors. The project is expected to have significant impacts on urban planning, particularly in enhancing flood resilience and the ability of cities to withstand and recover from extreme weather events.

As a Postdoctoral Researcher in the ResilientHydroTwin project, your primary responsibility will be to develop and refine behavioral and transport models within the digital twin framework, emphasizing complex systems modeling to integrate multiple simulation models including hydrological models (developed by other collaborators). You will be tasked with modelling and evaluating effective soft adaptation measures for flood events, working collaboratively with stakeholders. Utilizing the digital twin and methodologies for resilience assessment, your role will involve conducting comprehensive scenario analyses to assess the potential impacts and effectiveness of these strategies. This position is central to the project and involve project coordination responsibilities.

You are anticipated to enhance project visibility through result publications and participation in international conferences. Additionally, there is potential for involvement in teaching and supervising students should the candidate express interest.

You will be based at the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geociences (CEG) of the TU Delft at the Materials, Mechanics, Management & Design (3MD) and would be associated with the DigiConstruct Lab. The department houses an interdisciplinary group of scientists, engineers and managers with expertise in Digital Twins, complex systems modelling and resilience engineering. While the candidate will be based at CEG, strong and continuous interaction with our partners in TU/e and IITM is expected. 

We are in search of a highly motivated professional who enjoys working in a multidisciplinary setting with the following qualities:

• Possession of a PhD in Civil Engineering, Environmental Science, Urban Planning, Remote Sensing, Computer Science, or a related field with a focus on resilience of socio-technical systems, hydrology, or digital twin technology.
• Demonstrated experience in one or more areas such as complex systems modeling, digital twin development, resilience engineering, knowledge graphs, remote sensing with a strong understanding of integrating diverse data types and simulation models.
• Expertise in developing simulation models, adept at using one or more software tools for modeling and visualization, including simulation engines, game engines, GIS platforms, and Power BI (are eager to hone these skills further).
• Proficiency in basic programming with Python or equivalent languages is essential. Prior experience in IoT platforms and sensor-data acquisition is desirable.
• Ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team, with excellent communication skills and a commitment to integrating socio-economic and human behavior aspects into technological solutions.
• Experience in management of research projects is welcome.
• You should be willing and be able to travel to India at least twice during the duration of the project.
• Candidates are expected to start in June 2024 (negotiable).

This is a unique opportunity to advance both your academic and practical skills, and we encourage you to apply if you feel you can contribute to this role even if you only meet a selection of these criteria

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service . This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme  for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values  and we actively engage  to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to outstanding international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Our research feeds into our educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource availability, urbanisation and clean water. Our research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions. CEG is convinced of the importance of open science and supports its scientists in integrating open science in their research practice. The Faculty of CEG comprises 28 research groups in the following seven departments: Materials Mechanics Management & Design, Engineering Structures, Geoscience and Engineering, Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Transport & Planning, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management.

Click here  to go to the website of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr.ir. Ranjith Soman ([email protected] ) and/or Dr.ir. Maria Nogal ([email protected] ).

Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply before 3 March 2024 via the application button and upload:

• Your motivation letter – Explain why you find this project interesting and include evidences of your skills relevant for this project (maximum 1000 words).
• Your academic CV
• One first authored journal publication that can demonstrate your knowledge related to the advertised role.
• Your PhD Diploma/Transcript or in case the candidates are waiting for their PhD defense, please submit a letter from your supervisor stating the same

Please note:

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• A pre-Employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.