This position contributes to the Horizon 2020 projects ‘Ground Truth 2.0 – Environmental knowledge discovery of human-sensed data’ (2016-2019) and ‘WeObserve – An Ecosystem of Citizen Observatories for Environmental Monitoring’. The Ground Truth 2.0 project is undertaken by 14 partner organisations and aims to demonstrate and validate six scaled up citizen observatories in real operational conditions, in EU and Africa. The WeObserve brings together current CO projects to help move Citizen Science (CS) into the mainstream. One of the mechanisms are thematic Communities of Practice on CS-related topics. Dr. Uta Wehn from IHE Delft is the Project Director of Ground Truth 2.0 and Work Package leader in WeObserve and will guide this researcher.

We offer a dynamic and challenging position in an international environment. The junior researcher will have the unique opportunity to contribute the ‘science of citizen science’. The research will be challenging since it will feed into concrete project outputs at pre-determined and fixed dates.

Responsibilities

• Support the coordination and contribute to the practical work of the WeObserve Communities of Practice & help extract lessons learned on CS
• Organise the WeObserve roadshows to foster the uptake of Citizen Observatories by practitioners
• Extract methodological steps and principles from past and ongoing action research activities
• Support the preparation and execution of project meetings
• Draft, write and review project deliverables, ensuring they are of high quality, in time and within budget
• Contribute to project-related funding opportunities and acquisitions
• Design and implement topic-related capacity development interventions

• Masters degree in a relevant social science discipline, e.g. sociology, psychology or political science with demonstrable training in qualitative and quantitative research skills and with excellent grades;
• Minimum 3 years of professional experience as Junior Researcher or comparable position/experience;
• Experience or affiliation with Citizen Science (its theory and/or practice) and Knowledge Management methods;
• Experience with running interactive workshops with diverse stakeholders (workshop design, giving presentations and explanations) and with co-ordinating groups;
• Motivated to do high quality scientific research;
• Strong analytical skills and ability to identify key issues; meticulous information processing;
• Excellent writing skills and written and spoken command of English, as demonstrated by previous course work and/or publications in English; Spanish and/or Dutch language skills are an advantage;
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills within a multi-national and cultural context;
• Ability to multi-task, to deliver results under pressure and to tight deadlines and to drive success by using initiative and making things happen;
• Team spirit and willingness to embrace change to capture emerging opportunities.

Fixed-term contract: 2 years.

This position is a 2 year project contract, with a possible extension for another year, and it is based in Delft, The Netherlands. A competitive salary (grade 10) is offered depending on qualifications and experience in accordance with the conditions of employment for Dutch Universities. The appointment implies entry into the Netherlands' Civil Service Pension Fund (ABP). Candidates must be prepared to carry out short-term missions abroad.

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education offers graduate education in Delft, The Netherlands, and carries out research and capacity building projects all over the world. The mission of IHE Delft is to contribute to the education and training of professionals and to build the capacity of sector organizations, knowledge centres and other institutions active in the fields of water, the environment and infrastructure in developing countries and countries in transition.

IHE Delft has a permanent staff of 200, of which more than 100 are scientific staff, while about 250 guest-lecturers from academia and industry contribute to the educational programme. Each year 750 participants (incl. about 200 new MSc students per year) from all over the world attend the various regular and short courses at IHE Delft. The institute has an international staff & student community with English as working language.

https://www.un-ihe.org/

Integrated Water Systems & Governance department

The Integrated Water Systems & Governance department covers a broad range of disciplinary knowledge – sociology, law, economics, public administration, political science, information technology, mathematics, hydrological and hydraulic modelling sciences, engineering, knowledge management and innovation studies.