Assistant professor Water Technologies & Health

Updated: over 1 year ago
Job Type: Temporary
Deadline: 30 Sep 2022

Access to sufficient and safe drinking water is critical to human life. However, global population growth, increased urbanization, and climate change pose serious threats to our water sources. New contaminants, both chemical and microbial, challenge our existing water infrastructure. Therefore, researchers and engineers develop new treatment technologies or other adaptation strategies to protect human health. Quantitatively assessing the health risks, as well as health gains, of engineered interventions is a key ingredient to determine the impact of solutions. This evaluation, however, is challenging making the (in)direct, long-term health benefits of, for example a new treatment technology, poorly understood. To strengthen this interaction between water and health, reinforcement is sought in the following themes':

  • Assessing human health risks of exposure to emerging contaminants, either chemical or microbial, like PFAS, antibiotic resistant bacteria, via drinking water and non-potable, reclaimed water.
  • Quantitative Risk Assessment (QMRA/QCRA) in water systems to evaluate impact of existing and new engineered interventions, such as water treatment or alternative water management approaches
  • Developing novel (technological) approaches to prevent human exposure to emerging contaminants via drinking water and non-potable, reclaimed water, considering water treatment, storage and distribution
  • Studying supply of drinking water and non-potable, reclaimed water within the larger urban water cycle, including potential health trade-offs when moving towards circular use of water (e.g., greywater reuse at household level)

The Assistant Professor in Water Technologies and Health will address the aforementioned, or related themes. Further, the successful candidate is given the opportunity to develop their own research line, complementing ongoing research at Delft University of Technology.

The key job responsibilities of a successful candidate for this Assistant Professorship include:

  • Research: Delivering high quality, internationally leading research related to Water Technologies and Health. (Co-)supervising PhD and MSc students aimed at successful completion of their theses. Effectively disseminating research outcomes via internationally leading journals and conferences is an intrinsic part of the job.
  • Education: Contributing to the organization and teaching of relevant courses in the BSc and MSc programs of Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering. This includes the opportunity to introduce new content and teaching methods matching the candidate’s expertise and interests in the renewed MSc programs (offered from September 2022). Preparing, supervising and assessing BSc and MSc student projects.
  • Valorization: Initiating projects and obtaining funding for new research and/or education projects. We encourage proactive engagement with both private and government sectors, i.e. industry, business and community partners for societal impact.
  • Organization: Contributing to organizational / administrative activities and committees within the Department of Water Management and the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences.


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