PhD on Impact analysis of blue - green solutions for climate adaptation on catchment hydrology (ref. BAP-2023-573)

21 Aug 2023
Job Information

Organisation/Company

KU Leuven

Research Field

Geosciences » Hydrology

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Belgium

Application Deadline

30 Sep 2023 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The research group of prof. Patrick Willems focuses on the study of hydrological extremes (floods, droughts) by means of hydrological, hydraulic and water balance models and statistical methods, the impacts of climate change and climate adaptation solutions.

Project

Recent summers have been the driest of the last decades. Many studies indicate that droughts and water scarcity may become “the new normal” in the future in Flanders. In addition, climate change increases rainfall extremes, which results in more floods. These drought and flood risks impact nearly all sectors, including agriculture, drinking water supply, ecosystem functioning, shipping and public safety. Although the Flemish policy is highly oriented at integrated water management and the implementation of source control measures, current practices do not succeed in significantly reducing the risks induced by climate change and urbanisation. Blue-green or nature based solutions are among the priority measures. Typical blue-green solutions include infiltration basins, upstream wetlands, swales, buffer strips, mulching or re-meandering. In practice, it has proved to be challenging to understand how to best plan, implement and scale blue-green solutions. Little is known about the effectiveness (or side-effects) of these measures on a larger scale.

This PhD research project (4 years working as PhD researcher in close cooperation with other researchers in an interdisciplinary team) aims to improve the design, facilitate the planning and increase the implementation rate of blue-green adaptation strategies. Central is the scientific knowledge gain on the quantification of (large scale) impacts and benefits of blue-green solutions on catchment hydrology (floods and droughts). More, specifically, the research project will develop methods that allow to properly represent the blue-green adaptation measures in catchment scale hydrological models, and to evaluate the impact of various types of adaptation scenarios for actual and future climate conditions. This will be done for selected case studies in Flanders region of Belgium.

Offer

4-years PhD research project

Requirements

Research Field

Engineering » Civil engineering

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field

Engineering » Biomedical engineering

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field

Engineering » Water resources engineering

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Master of Civil Engineering, Bioscience Engineering or Water Resources Engineering, with interest in water management, nature based solutions and the implementation of spatially distributed hydrological models for river catchments. Good programming skills including Python is a must. 

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Additional Information
Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

KU Leuven

Country

Belgium

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60250841

Contact

City

Leuven

Website

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60250841

Street

Parijsstraat 72b Leuven

E-Mail

patrick.willems@kuleuven.be

Phone

+32 16 32 16 58

STATUS: EXPIRED