PhD Positions Floating Future

How can we keep our densely populated country livable? The Netherlands faces an increasing demand for space for living, industry, nature, energy transition, food production, drinking water and flood safety. The water may however also offer an opportunity for creating safe space through large-scale floating developments.  

The interdisciplinary and applied research project ‘Floating Future: Scaling up floating structures as climate-proof space-creating solution enabling societal, industrial and ecological win-wins’, led by research institute MARIN, is funded by the Dutch Science Council (NWO) and consists of a broad research consortium of organizations. The overall objective is to develop knowledge about the societal acceptance, the required governance and legal arrangements, the ecological impacts and the technological challenges related to building large-scale floating islands.

In the context of this research project, 1 Postdoc researcher and 10 PhD researchers in the fields of governance, technology and ecology will be appointed and closely work together in concrete case study areas (inland, coastal port city and offshore). Participatory Action Research will be the Floating Future ‘integration engine’ where the different scientific disciplines and societal stakeholders meet and co-create knowledge about how large-scale floating urban developments can be realized, developing ‘maritime urbanism’ as a new field of expertise.

As Floating Future researcher, you will not only participate in the interdisciplinary Action Research in the three study focus areas, but from your specific discipline also proactively contribute to the organization of the various sessions and workshops that are part of the Action Research.

At Civil Engineering we are looking for two PhD candidates:

PhD 1) Floating Island effects on coastal flood safety

This study concerns the mid and far field hydrodynamics. You will look at the influence of large floating developments on flow, waves and morphology as related to coastal flood safety. For this purpose mathematical and numerical modelling will be developed and applied to one or more case studies situated in the North Sea.

PhD 2) Floating Eco-Reefs for wave attenuation.

This study concerns the 'breakwater' around the floating development. Typical floating, fixed and hybrid configurations will be studied for two typical locations. The near field hydrodynamics, motion, and mooring forces will be assessed using tools like 2D physical model tests, CFD and a 3D basin test at MARIN. Two iterative design cycles are planned in the co-creation process.

We are seeking a candidates with a profound background in fluid mechanics and/or coastal or hydraulic engineering. You are curious and open-minded towards humanity and society related disciplines. You have the creativity to both anticipate and initiate cross-overs within the Floating Future research program, collaborating with fellow PhD students from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), and the faculties of maritime engineering and urbanism of TU Delft, and others. You are determined to reach your goal, yet aware and responsive concerning the overall goal of the Floating Future project. 

Requirerments:

• An MSc degree in Hydraulic Engineering, Geography, Physical oceanography, Mathematics or related discipline,
• An excellent ability to think conceptually and quantitatively,
• An excellent ability to write and communicate in English,
• An intrinsic motivation to cooperate in a larger project,
• Significant experience with a coding language commonly used in engineering (e.g., Fortran, Matlab, Python),
• Prior knowledge of coastal zone hydrodynamics,
• Prior knowledge or experience in numerical modelling of waves and flows (especially PhD 1),
• Prior knowledge or experience in physical modelling of waves (especially PhD 2),
• Good organisation skills,
• An affinity for supervision of students,
• Affinity with engineering practice.        

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. 

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to outstanding international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Our research feeds into our educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource availability, urbanisation and clean water. Our research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions. CEG is convinced of the importance of open science and supports its scientists in integrating open science in their research practice. The Faculty of CEG comprises 28 research groups in the following seven departments: Materials Mechanics Management & Design, Engineering Structures, Geoscience and Engineering, Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Transport & Planning, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences.