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Organization: IDPA (Institute for the Dynamic of Environmental Processes)

Location: Milano and Padova, Italy

Field: Earth science

Requirements:

Recently obtained M.Sc. or 4-yr diploma degree in Geo-Informatics. Experience in programming language (e.g. Visual Basic 6.0, J2EE, C/C++, PHP, Python, SQL Databases), knowledge of Geographical Information Systems and Decision Support Systems are requested. Candidates with background in Informatics are strongly encouraged to apply. Interest in quantitative Earth Sciences and for mountain environments are also recommended. It is expected, that the candidate will participate in all meetings and workshops organized by the CHANGES research consortium – related additional funding will be available. The candidate must also be willing to disseminate the results within the project during the meetings, but also and in particular through presentations at conferences and contributions to scientific journals. Frequent interaction with other researchers in the CHANGES network and an attitude for scientific inter-disciplinary research are important.

Abstract:

A Ph.D. position, financed by the European Community, is available within the European Marie Curie Initial Training Network “CHANGES”. The CHANGES network (Changing Hydro-meteorological Risks – as Analyzed by a New Generation of European Scientists) will develop an advanced understanding of how global changes (related to environmental and climate change as well as socio-economical change) will affect the temporal and spatial patterns of hydro-meteorological hazards and associated risks in Europe; how these changes can be assessed, modeled, and incorporated in sustainable risk management strategies, focusing on spatial planning, emergency preparedness and risk communication.

Description:

Background: The objective of the research is to advance the development and use of instruments and tools for risk management, covering the whole disaster cycle and considering the complexity of changing environments.
Research will focus on developing techniques for early warning and emergency preparedness in the field of Civil Protection, over different spatial and temporal scales. The main aim is to develop an integrated solution targeted to cope with disaster preparedness and response, taking advantage of data processing capabilities by Geographical Information Systems (GIS), workflow management modules by Decision Support Systems (DSS), and communication systems by Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

Objectives:
This work will include the following tasks:
• inventory of risk management strategies in Europe focusing on early warning and emergency preparedness and response;
• use of risk information in the design of early warning systems;
• emergency response planning: emergency preparedness and early warning scenarios based on the outcomes of the probabilistic risk assessment;
• development of an internet-based Decision Support System for a real-time management of crisis phases;
• Integrate early warning systems and Decision Support Systems into a Web-based platform for risk management and communication.
The field study sites will include the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, in the Eastern part of the Italian Dolomites and the Barcelonnette Basin in the South French Alps, where detailed and extensive databases are already available and organized for the aim of the Ph.D Research.
The position is a research-only post, with no teaching obligations. CNR will provide substantial support in a stimulating environment, and we expect the successful candidate to undertake high quality original research in his/her specific field.

Location: The candidate will be based for 36 months at the National Research Council of Italy - Institute for the Dynamic of Environmental Processes (IDPA, Milan) and Research Institute for Hydro-Geological Protection (IRPI, Padua). Some months of secondment are scheduled at the Technical University Delft (TUD, NL) - Department of Water Management and the company Alert Solutions (AS, NL), as part of the transfer of knowledge activities within the network.
The PhD will be registered as external PhD at the Technische Universiteit Delft (TUD, NL).

Deadline: 01-04-2011

Contacts:

Link: http://www.idpa.cnr.it/indexen.htm

Link: http://www.itc.nl/changes

Email: simone.sterlacchini@unimib.it

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