Eurizon.eu

Organization: Delft University of Technology

Location: Delft, Netherlands

Field: Human geography

Requirements:

The successful candidate holds an MSc degree in social or spatial sciences with strong methodological background such as social geography, information science, etc. The candidate should have good computer skills, interest in risk management in mountain environments, and affinity with natural and technical sciences. Excellent communication skills are essential, as is fluency in English (both spoken and written). Knowledge of French, Italian, Polish or Romanian is desirable. 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 Marie Curie ITN 'Changes' focuses on natural mountainous hazards, which implies the importance that risk visualization takes into account changes in risk over space and time. The communication of natural hazards and associated societal risks has been developed strongly over the last decades. Especially the integration of risk communication in risk management has been recognized. Visualization of various risks is an important communication tool especially in case the hazard is associated with uncertainty in both space and time. This holds for all stakeholders: from technical experts and scientists to managers, decision-makers and the persons whose properties or even lives are at risk. The increased societal complexity demands clear and open communication before decisions are taken, and real-time, understandable and reliable communication during hazard events. Risk visualization is a vital part of this. The effectiveness of existing risk visualization tools for the communication with various stakeholders at various points in the risk management cycle has not been evaluated so far. This study aims to fill this gap. It will focus on a thorough evaluation of risk visualisation tools for communication with various stakeholders as integrated part of the risk management cycle.

Objectives:
This work will include the following tasks:
- Inventory of risk visualization tools;
- Assessment of the use of risk visualization tools by different stakeholders
- Development of guidelines for visualization in risk communication tools for natural hazards
- Study possible integration of risk visualization tools in early warning systems and Decision Support Systems (Web-based)
The research will use existing visualization tools applied already within the Marie Curie ITN Changes project and start an evaluation program of these. However, the research can be extended, if necessary.

Location: The work will be carried out at Delft University of Technology. Some months of secondment are scheduled at the School and Observatory of Earth Sciences in Strasbourg (France) and at the Civil Protection agency of the region Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (Italy) as part of the transfer of knowledge activities within the network.

Supervision: The PhD Project work will be formally supervised by Dr. Thom Bogaard and Dr. Erik Mostert and Prof. Dr. Ir. Nick van de Giesen. The PhD. thesis must be submitted in English.
 
The appointment will be given in reference to the employment regulations of the Delft University of Technology and the rules for Ph-D students (AIO’s) of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. The duration is for a 48 months at a mean rate of 2340 € gross per month. The applicant will benefit from supplementary allowances that will enable him/her to spend a substantial amount of his/her time at the secondment institute. These allowances are a mobility allowance which amount depends on the family charges of the applicant, a Career Exploratory Allowance and one visit per year to the home country.
 
Interested persons should contact and send their application (curriculum vitae, short statement of research interest and addresses of three referees) to Dr. Thom Bogaard (T.A.Bogaard@tudelft.nl) and Erik Mostert (E.Mostert@tudelft.nl). Selection of the applicant will be performed on a competitive basis.
 

Deadline: 01-03-2011

Contacts:

Link: http://www.citg.tudelft.nl/

Email: E.Mostert@tudelft.nl

Email: T.A.Bogaard@tudelft.nl

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