ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR (TENURE TRACK) IN EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS IN COASTAL WATERS AT DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Job Description

We are delighted to welcome an enthusiastic Assistant/Associate Professor who is willing to take the lead in research and education on Emerging Technologies for Nature-Based Solutions in Coastal Waters.

Modern-day coastal engineering and management increasingly rely on Nature-Based Solutions (such as the Sand Engine) as an enabler for sustainable coastal development. Successful design and implementation of such solutions demands fundamental insight in the fascinating dynamics of coastal systems, the complex interplay of underlying morphological and ecological processes, and associated uncertainties. The recent onset of incredibly rich data sets (such as satellite imagery) opens the door towards the application of new, emerging technologies (like machine learning) to study coastal dynamics and assess the effect of nature-based interventions. Lab experiments, field measurements and numerical model simulations can be used to complement the understanding of eco-morphological processes driving coastal changes. Research on the combined use of data and models may result in reduced uncertainties in model predictions. At the level of Assistant Professor, we welcome open-minded, creative candidates willing to explore new avenues of research in this new, cross-disciplinary field.

At the level of Associate Professor, the candidate is expected to have proven capabilities with the initiation and coordination of the research described above. She is also expected to explore new methods and strategies to enable large-scale implementation of nature-based solutions in different environmental, socio-economic, and governance settings, covering the European Union and beyond. Stakeholder engagement and adaptive management of uncertainties are key. This demands integral understanding of the broader societal, management, and engineering context, insight in the scalability of nature-based solutions as well as the capability to think across disciplines.

Responsibilities of the tenure track position include publication of peer-reviewed journal papers and acquisition of research funding, along with the development and/or teaching of one or more BSc/MSc courses and (co-) supervision of BSc/MSc students and PhD candidates. Approximately 40% of the time will be allocated to research, and 40% to education. A small portion of the position’s responsibilities (20%) is devoted to auxiliary activities such as participation in faculty committees, external outreach and valorisation of research findings.

Requirements

We seek a colleague who has the dedication to pursue a career in academia. You hold a PhD degree in Civil Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Ecology or related area, with excellent skills to think conceptually and quantitatively. You can deliver high-quality research, as evidenced by your publication record. We acknowledge your ambition to set up your own research area and build up your own research group, while maintaining close links with other research areas.

Our future colleague, preferably a woman, has experience with the academic environment and is aware of inclusiveness values. You enjoy working in (multi-disciplinary) teams, in a cooperative, active and social environment. You possess good organisational and communication skills, and excellent proficiency in spoken and written English. You are, through your personality, able to cooperate effectively with peers, students and stakeholders.

If your MSc diploma and transcript are not in Dutch, English, French or German and you will be the selected candidate, the TU Delft will ask you to deliver a certified translation in case you will be appointed.

Contract Terms

At the start of the tenure track, you will be appointed as Assistant/Associate Professor for the duration of six years. You will receive a start-up package to facilitate a head-start of your research. If your performance and (soft) skills are evaluated positively at the end of the tenure track, you will be appointed in a permanent Assistant/Associate Professor position.

TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount for health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged and part-time employment (including arrangements with third parties) is possible. An International Children’s Centre offers childcare and an international primary school. Dual Career Services offers support to accompanying partners. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

TU Delft sets specific standards for the English competency of the teaching staff. TU Delft offers training to improve English competency.

Inspiring, excellent education is our central aim. If you do not yet have your teaching certificate, we allow you up to three years to obtain this.

Contract Duration

Tenure Track

Department

The position is located within the Department of Hydraulic Engineering at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. Our research and education agenda is driven by societal needs to design, engineer, and manage human interventions in the natural environment, for purposes such as flood safety, navigation, nature development, and recreation. To that end, the department aims at thorough understanding of the behaviour of rivers, coasts, estuaries, and seas, as well as interventions in these systems. The department consists of five groups: Coastal Engineering; Rivers, Ports, Waterways and Dredging Engineering; Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk, and Offshore Engineering. Building on close working relationships with Deltares, Rijkswaterstaat, industry and other Dutch research organisations, joining our group also means you become embedded in an entire country with a long history of coastal know-how.

The Assistant/Associate Professor will be working in the Coastal Engineering group. This group focuses on research and education related to natural coastal dynamics, engineering structures, and integrated coastal management. Our field of expertise covers straight beaches and dunes as well as estuaries, tidal inlets, and coastal seas, in both sandy and muddy environments. The work of our group builds on the unique combination of in-depth coastal process understanding (sampled from numerous lab and field experiments) and quantitative predictive skills on natural dynamics as well as engineering interventions, thus effectively bridging the gap between fundamental science and engineering practice. With increasing environmental awareness amongst younger generations and the growing urgency to respond to climate change, we actively work on methods to develop new, sustainable coastal engineering solutions and the implementation of those in our curriculum.

Additional Info

For information about this vacancy, you can contact Professor Stefan Aarninkhof, head of the Coastal Engineering group, email: s.g.j.aarninkhof@tudelft.nl, tel: +31-15-2785487.

Apply here.

Posted on: 06/12/2019, by :