Project background: India’s water resources are under severe stress resulting from overexploitation and pollution. The Indian government has started the Namami Ganga programme in line with the sustainable development goals (SDG), including the improvement of wastewater treatment. This postdoc position is part of a multi-year research and innovation action entitled “PAVITRA GANGA – Unlocking wastewater treatment, water re-use and resource recovery opportunities for urban and peri-urban areas in India”. The project is jointly conducted by a European-Indian consortium that builds onto existing cooperation between the EU and India and it directly links to the ongoing programmes in India. The projects’ main objective is to unlock the environmental and economic potential of municipal wastewater treatment and reuse for urban and peri-urban areas in India. By integrating people, planet, and profit it attempts to create maximum impact towards achieving sustainable development goal SDG6.

Duties and responsibilities: The aim of this postdoc is to design, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of group decision support processes with regard to (waste)water treatment. The work will facilitate local learning and decision-making about possible wastewater treatment and reuse options as part of a larger portfolios of measures to address current water issues. In close collaboration with our Indian partners, a process will be co-created to facilitate problem structuring and the evaluation of possible measures to be taken by the key actors on water and wastewater management in the Ganges river basin. This will include the subjective, behavioural appreciation of the measures alongside quantitative assessment of anticipated outcomes based on social, technical, environmental, and economic criteria. It is foreseen to use group facilitation and problem structuring methods next to multi-criteria (portfolio) decision analysis.

The core tasks of the candidate are to design and conduct the research in close coordination with project partners as well as to publish and communicate it to scientific and non-scientific audiences. Moreover, active contributions to consortium activities and project administration are part of the position. Regular interaction and travel to meet with European and Indian partners are expected. While in most cases this will be of short duration (few days), it might be necessary to stay in India for longer periods (weeks) during the intervention phases.

Practicalities: The starting date for this position will be agreed with the selected candidate and is envisaged to lie between October and December 2019. Next to a flexible working hour arrangement, filling this position at a minimum 70% workload, and in that case longer contract duration, is possible.

Key requirements:

• PhD degree (<3 years) in a relevant field, for example decision and behavioural sciences, operational research (applied), management science, environmental policy and engineering. (Note: PhD candidates who hold an MSc and will have completed all necessary requirements by Nov 2019 for being able to defend their PhD may also apply.) 

• Analytically minded, self-driven researcher, who strives for science that is both cutting-edge and practically relevant to local communities 

• Familiarity with group decision support methods such as problem structuring methods, multi-criteria (portfolio) decision analysis or similar 

• Academic publication record (at least 1 peer-reviewed journal publication in a top-tier journal and 2 other scholarly publications published or submitted; presentation at scientific conferences) 

• Professional, effective and constructive interaction with others from different professional and social backgrounds 

• Proficient in English and good verbal communication in general 

• Willingness and ability to travel to Europe and India 

• Efficient and organized, dependable  

In our ideal candidate, we are also looking for

• Interdisciplinary, mixed methods background, openness to work across disciplinary paradigms 

• Background in preference elicitation, techno-economic and social analysis, integrated assessment, policy analysis or similar 

• Experience in the design, facilitation, and evaluation of group processes 

• Comfortable with running and adapting existing software from the command line (e.g. in Python or R) 

• Knowledge of urban water systems and wastewater treatment technology 

• Experience of studying or working in a culture that is different from one’s own, ideally in India (or if you are from India: in Europe or the Netherlands)

Fixed-term contract: 2 years full-time; parttime is possible.

The TU Delft offers an attractive, customisable compensation and benefits package, including a discount for health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. An International Children’s Centre offers day care, before- and after-school care 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.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is a multifaceted institution offering education and carrying out research in the technical sciences at an internationally recognised level. Education, research and design are strongly oriented towards applicability. TU Delft develops technologies for future generations, focusing on sustainability, safety and economic vitality. At TU Delft you will work in an environment where technical sciences and society converge. TU Delft comprises eight faculties, unique laboratories, research institutes and schools.

https://www.tudelft.nl

Faculty Civil Engineering and Geosciences

The Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG) of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) 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. The research covers global social issues and is closely connected to education as well as the work of a wide range of knowledge institutions. CEG is convinced that Open Science helps to realise these goals 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. The position will be located in the Water Management Department, Sanitary Engineering section.

The Department of Water Management focuses on wide range of issues across the full water cycle. The objectives of the research are to understand water availability and water use, as well as water quality, treatment and transport, and to translate this knowledge into practical technologies and methods. In 2018, an external research assessment committee rated the department of Water Management as ‘excellent’ on all three topics reviewed: quality of research, viability and societal relevance. The department currently has 30 FTE academics (tenured) and over 150 PhD candidates and postdocs. The current portfolio of Dutch, EU, industrial and other research projects is worth 15 million €. The research of Sanitary Engineering section (where the successful candidate will be located) focuses on the research related to water extraction, storage, purification and distribution; wastewater and storm water collection, transport, treatment and discharge; resource recovery from water; industrial water; urban water management and drainage.

https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ceg/