PhD position in “Water footprint assessment and water allocation modelling”

This is one of two PhD positions that are part of an international and multidisciplinary research project funded by the European Commission's Horizon Europe programme entitled "Water Efficient Allocation in a Central Asian Transboundary River Basin". The overall project goal is to develop and demonstrate a climate-sensitive Decision Support System (DSS) for water allocation in two sub-catchments of a transboundary glacier-fed river basin in Central Asia. Based on an innovative, data-driven water information system rooted in a deep understanding of local water availability, users' water needs, water footprints, and allocation principles and policies, the project will enable local water managers and stakeholders to increase shared benefits for communities, the economy, and the environment, while fostering the adaptation of water resources management and planning to climate change.

The specific focus of your PhD project is to estimate water demand, water footprints, and virtual water trade for the case study basins, both for the current situation and for alternative future scenarios informed by climate change and drivers such as population growth, land-use changes, and changes in energy production. Hereto, you will use and develop high-resolution water footprint assessment models and frameworks that cover a full array of water using activities. You will work together with other project partners, first to obtain global and local data to feed and validate the model estimates, and second to integrate your results with water availability estimates obtained by other partners into a water allocation model that forms the foundation of the DSS. Beside the clear policy relevance of your work, this PhD project has strong potential in improving our scientific understanding of how climate change affects sustainable, equitable, and resilient water allocation in glacier-fed river basins.