Professorial Chair in River Basin Development (m/f), Delft, Netherlands

UNESCO-IHE is the largest international graduate water education facility in the world and is based in Delft, the Netherlands. The Institute confers fully accredited MSc degrees, and PhD degrees in collaboration with partner universities. Since 1957 the Institute has provided graduate education to more than 15,000 water professionals from over 162 countries, the vast majority from the developing world. Numerous research and capacity development projects are carried out throughout the world. The Institute offers a unique combination of applied, scientific and participatory research in water engineering combined with natural sciences and social sciences as well as management and governance. Since its establishment the Institute has played an instrumental role in developing the capacities of water sector organizations in the South, not least by strengthening the efforts of other universities and research centers to increase the knowledge and skills of professionals working in the water sector. UNESCO-IHE carries out educational, research and capacity development activities that complement and reinforce each other in the broad fields of water engineering, water management, environment, water supply and sanitation, and governance. The main themes UNESCO-IHE deals with as an answer to today's and tomorrow's world water challenges are safe drinking water and sanitation, water-related hazards and climate change, water and ecosystems quality, water management and governance, water, food and energy security, and information and knowledge systems. UNESCO-IHE is operating in partnership with many institutions around the world with the aim to advance education, research and training on solutions for the interconnected issues of water management, sustainable development, poverty reduction and ecosystem protection.

About the Department of Water Science and Engineering

The Water Science & Engineering Department conducts research and provides graduate education and training to professionals in the fields of water resources assessment and control, hydraulic engineering, hydrology/hydrogeology, various fields related to aquatic ecosystems and limnology, irrigation and drainage, navigation and hydropower, port and coastal engineering, and floods, droughts and pollution. The department is organized into six scientific chair groups each headed by a professor: Land & Water Development deals with the technology of adapting and managing land and water resources for specific forms of land use in rural, urban and industrial areas. Its activities focus on the development of rural areas and the topics of irrigation, drainage and flood protection. Aquatic Ecosystems aims to better understand the relationship between the ecological structure, function and integrity of wetlands in the support of livelihoods. Hydrology & Water Resources contributes to a better understanding of hydrological processes, to improve techniques for data monitoring and handling, to improve modeling of processes within the hydrological cycle, and to interpret and present results for implementation of integrated water resources management. Coastal Systems, Engineering & Port Development deals with the analysis, design and management of natural and man-made systems in the coastal environment. River Basin Development is concerned with water-related infrastructure in river basins that is needed to enhance the beneficial and sustainable use of water and/or to control water-related problems. Flood Resilience aims at advancing scientific knowledge and practical application into integrated approaches to cultivate resilience in urban communities and built-up areas. Professorial Chair in River Basin Development PROFILE

About the River Basin Development (RBD) Chair Group (CG)

The RBD Chair Group is active in three main research lines:

• River processes in natural and man-made environments. This includes research into natural processes of river systems like meandering, braiding and the occurrence of avulsions; erosion and sedimentation processes; bar formation in alluvial channels, bank erosion and accretion as well as interactions between flow and natural vegetation or man-made interventions; geological characteristics at the basin scale in relation to long term river basin development; field data collection on river basin geology, geomorphology and hydrology as well as on sediment characteristics in the river system; techniques from geo-visualization (GIS and Remote Sensing) and from advanced data processing and analysis, often combined with numerical simulation of river systems, including transport phenomena. A better understanding and mathematical description of river processes is at the heart of the RBD core.
• Optimal design of hydraulic structures. Traditionally the design of hydraulic structures was often based on empiricism. Nowadays, the optimal design of hydraulic structures is receiving considerable attention, both from a hydraulic and from an economic point of view; this requires knowledge about population dynamics (growth, urbanization, economic development) and climate variability on flood management, water resources availability and utilization, river structure planning and hydropower assessment; estimating uncertainties in hydraulic modeling and in the design parameters for hydraulic structures; estimating the scour depth near hydraulic structures; floating debris entrainment and transport, including effects of dams and other interventions on river systems; design, structural implications and environmental impacts of dams and pressure tunnels for hydropower generation.
• Reservoir operation and management For the optimal operation and management of reservoirs, knowledge on the hydrological conditions and predictions is of crucial importance, as is dealing with forecast uncertainty and verification of forecast results. To increase the reliability of flood forecasting and early warning systems, data-model integration techniques in the operational domain are becoming more and more important.

The RBD Chairgroup consists of 9 permanent staff members (total 5 FTE) and currently 10 PhD fellows.

Tasks & Responsibilities

The professor in River Basin Development (RBD) will provide overall academic leadership to the RBD CG in its international education, research and capacity building activities and will act a Head of Chair Group. The professor is expected to apply and develop the field of hydraulic engineering and river basin development within the wider technical, social, economic and environmental context in the target countries of UNESCO-IHE. The ambition is that this will result in innovative applications, beyond the technical and scientific state-of-the-art, yet applicable in the developing world. A major challenge the professor in RBD needs to address is the translation of academic research into societal impact in the field, which requires good communication and networking skills, as well as a hands-on attitude. In this context the new Chair Professor should be part of a network, both within The Netherlands and internationally, to facilitate acquisition of education, research and capacity building projects.

The candidate will

• Provide overall leadership to RBD Chair Group;
• Initiate and lead strategy and scientific research of the RBM CG;
• Manage the academic output of the RBM CG;
• Supervise PhD and MSc research;
• Have a keen interest in developing water science and engineering teaching and research as an interdisciplinary subject across all the departments of UNESCO-IHE;
• Take overall responsibility for the quality and contents of the MSc programme specialisation in Hydraulic Engineering and River Basin Development, and serve as a member of the WSE programme committee; Professorial Chair in River Basin Development PROFILE
• Teach in the Water Science and Engineering programmes, and in relevant short courses and trainings offered within the Institute and abroad;
• Develop proposals and procure funding for education, research and capacity building activities, abroad and in the Netherlands;
• Develop and establish close links with other chair groups in UNESCO-IHE; and
• Develop and establish close links with institutions, universities and organisations working in the specified fields both worldwide and in the Netherlands.

Required competences

• Background in (civil) engineering;
• PhD degree in hydraulic engineering or closely related field;
• Proven international reputation, leadership and vision in the areas of hydraulic engineering and river/catchment morphology;
• Excellent peer-reviewed publication record with proven impact;
• Demonstrated sustained ability to attract significant research/project funding from national, EU and/or international sources;
• University teaching and curriculum development experience at postgraduate level;
• Professional experience and affinity with multi-disciplinary, nature-based engineering projects; experience in developing or transition countries will be an advantage;
• Participation in teaching, research and/or capacity building projects in developing countries and countries in transition will be an advantage;
• Demonstrated experience in the guidance of MSc and PhD-level research;
• Well-established international network within the broad area of hydraulic engineering and river basin development, including academia, research organisations and donor communities;
• Good working contacts within the Dutch research and hydraulic engineering society or willingness and ability to quickly develop these;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; and
• Excellent English-language skills (written and spoken) and preferably also fluent in Spanish or French and/or one other official UN language.

0-Nomination

It is the intention that the successful candidate for the position at UNESCO-IHE will also acquire the position of Extraordinary Professor at the TU Delft (Delft University of Technology).

Terms of employment

The position is based in Delft, The Netherlands. A temporary contract will be awarded for the first 5 years, after this period a permanent contract can be offered. A competitive salary 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 long- and short-term missions abroad.

Information and application

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from Prof. Dr. Stefan Uhlenbrook, Vice- Rector Academic and Student Affairs and Officer-in-Charge (+31-15-215-1843 or s.uhlenbrook@unesco-ihe.org). Candidates are asked to submit a curriculum vitae detailing their qualifications and experience, the names and addresses of two references, and a vision statement for leading the HERBD core to UNESCO-IHE, attn. Human Resource Management (vacancies@unesco- ihe.org), PO Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands, referencing vacancy-number 15-WSE-01.

The deadline for applications is 31 July 2015 (closing date).