PhD Scholarship on carbon dynamics in newly created coastal wetlands

22 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

Research Field

Environmental science » Earth science
Environmental science » Ecology
Geography » Other

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Belgium

Application Deadline

8 Mar 2024 - 22:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

38

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
1 - Working at the VUB

For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. 

 

At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located. 

 

Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again. 

 

Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.

2 - Position description

The Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Department Biology, is looking for a PhD-student with a doctoral grant. 

 

 

More concretely, for the preparation of a doctorate, we are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated PhD-candidate with a strong interest in tidal wetlands and remote sensing. The position will be hosted within the group of Prof. Dr. Tom Van der Stocken, in close collaboration with research groups at UAntwerpen (Prof. Dr. Stijn Temmerman and Prof. Dr. Ivan Janssens) and KULeuven (Prof. Dr. Christian Schwarz and Prof. Dr. Steven Bouillon).

 

Tidal wetlands serve as a natural buffer zone, protecting human communities from storm surges and sea-level rise, and are considered effective Nature-based Solution (NBS) to both climate change adaptation and mitigation by sequestering carbon. NBS projects aimed at developing tidal marshes and mangroves are generally implemented on landscape scales spanning several square kilometres. While techniques exist to measure carbon sequestration at specific points within tidal wetlands, these methods are insufficient for upscaling carbon balances to the typical scale and duration of NBS projects. The VLAIO-funded WETCOAST project will address this gap by developing and validating an innovative triple-technique approach. This approach combines drone-based, air- and water-flux-based, and advanced carbon characterization techniques to accurately quantify carbon sequestration and sediment stabilization functionality at the landscape scale.

 

These innovations will be developed in two living labs of large-scale NBS projects, representing the two climate-dependent types of tidal wetlands on our planet: (1) temperate-climate tidal marshes are developed over 465 ha in the Scheldt estuary (Hedwige-Prosperpolder project, Belgium & the Netherlands) and (2) ca. 50 ha of new tropical mangroves will be developed in the Guayas estuary (AquaForest project, Ecuador).

 

You will be a member of the VLAIO-funded WETCOAST Project and focus on drone image acquisition, processing, and analysis for landscape-scale quantification of carbon sequestration and sediment stabilization along ecosystem age gradients. More specifically, images will be obtained from multiple drone surveys for 4 marsh sites and 4 mangrove sites and be processed to generate maps of (1) sediment elevation change, (2) above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, biomass organic carbon content, density, and sequestration rate, and (3) sediment organic carbon content, density, and sequestration rate. The obtained maps will then be analysed to identify spatial patterns and temporal rates in the development of erosion protection and carbon sequestration, over time scales from very recently created NBS projects, to ca. 10, 20 and >30 years old marsh and mangrove systems.

 

 

For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base. 

3 - Profile

What do we expect from you?

 

• You hold a M.Sc. degree in Physical Geography, Earth Sciences, Ecology, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Engineering, or related fields.

 

 

• You have strong statistical, analytical, and computational skills.
• Experience in remote sensing and handling geodata is considered an asset.
• You have a strong motivation and curiosity for coastal wetland and climate-change research.
• Interest in designing experiments and conducting challenging field work.
• Motivated to work in an interdisciplinary and international working environment.
• Able to work proactively, independently, as well as within an interdisciplinary consortium.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both speaking and writing.
• You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity, and cooperation.

 

 

• You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.

 

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.

4 - Offer

Are you going to be our new colleague?

 

You’ll be offered a full-time PhD-scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 48 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the PhD activities), with planned starting date 01/05/2024. 

 

You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.

 

IMPORTANT: The effective result of the doctorate scholarship is subject to the condition precedent of your enrolment as a doctorate student at the university.

 

At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.

 

As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:

• Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
• An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
• Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
• Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike; 
• A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
• Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in  all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques; 
• Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps; 
• The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
• And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.

5 - Interested?

Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?

 

Then apply, at the latest on 08/03/2024 , via jobs.vub.be , and upload the following documents:

• your CV;
• your motivation letter, including the contact information of max. 2 reference persons;
• your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni).

 

Do you have questions about the job content? Contact Tom Van der Stocken at [email protected]  or on +32 (0)2 629 34 20.

 

Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be , and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.

 

Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu , and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.

Requirements

Research Field

Environmental science

Years of Research Experience

1 - 4

Research Field

Environmental science

Years of Research Experience

1 - 4

Research Field

Geography

Years of Research Experience

1 - 4

Additional Information

Website for additional job details

https://academicpositions.com

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

Country

Belgium

City

Brussels

Postal Code

1050

Street

Boulevard de la Plaine 2

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://academicpositions.com/ad/vrije-universiteit-brussel/2024/phd-scholarshi…

Contact

City

Brussels

Website

http://www.vub.ac.be/

Postal Code

1050

STATUS: EXPIRED