PhD Scholarship Programme: Sustainability and Climate Change Resilience - Vicente López


  • Job: Investigador/a
  • Department: Sostenibilidad
  • Location: Amposta (Spain)
  • Contract: Temporary
  • Working day: Full time
  • Sector: Other
  • Vacancies: 1
  • Discipline: R&D

EURECAT

Eurecatis the main Research & Technology Organisation in Catalonia and the second largest private research organization in southern Europe. It brings together the experience of more than 700 professionals and provides services to more than 2,000 companies. Applied R&D, technological services, highly specialized training, technological consultancy or valorisation and exploitation of industrial property are some of the services that Eurecat offers for both large and small and medium-sized enterprises in all sectors. The technology centre participates in more than 200 large national and international consortium projects of high strategic R&I and has 181 patents and 10 spin-offs. The added value provided by Eurecat accelerates innovation, reduces spending on scientific and technological infrastructures, reduces risks and provides specialized knowledge tailored to each company.

Job description

The research to be carried out during the PhD thesis will be framed in the EU H2020 project REST-COAST, Large scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystems through rivers to sea connectivity (H2020-LC-GD-2020-3-101037097; https://rest-coast.eu) and will deal with a large-scale mesocosm experiment to evaluate the effects of climate change induced stressors (warming and sea level rise) on Mediterranean halophilous habitats with a high potential for the delivery of ecosystem services for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The aim is to contribute to predict the dynamics of these important Mediterranean ecosystems under climate change scenarios as well as to assist in the design of effective nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation, i.e., development of suitable management schemes and restoration actions to promote the delivery of ecosystem services for climate change adaptation and mitigation and biodiversity enhancement.

 

The PhD thesis will be developed under the supervision of researchers from three institutions: CRC/Eurecat, UPC-BarcelonaTech and RMIT University (Australia).

The department of climate change of Eurecat aims at promoting the production of relevant knowledge for the development of innovative and sustainable solutions to increase the resilience of socioecological systems to climate change and thus contribute to the achievement of the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals and accelerate the ecological transition. To do so, the department of climate change promoted, together with the Catalan government and nine institutions (universities, R&D centers, NGOs, private foundations and municipalities), the Climate Resilience Center (CRC). The main goal of CRC is to become the leading R&D center in climate resilience (impact analysis, adaptation and mitigation) in Catalonia and the Mediterranean, achieving a strong international projection (https://centreenresilienciaclimatica.org).

The maritime engineering research group of UPC-BarcelonaTech coordinates the Marine Sciences doctoral school (https://doctorat.upc.edu/en/programmes/marine-sciences?set_language=en), the university program to which this PhD will be associated. This research group aims at investigating coastal ecogeomorphic processes and develops tools to help in decision-making and in the management of coastal resources. Moreover, it is a partner of the CRC and coordinates the REST-COAST project.

The RMIT research group involved in the PhD thesis have expertise in coastal ecosystems and biodiversity, with special emphasis on marine biodiversity in coastal wetlands, focusing on sedimentary invertebrates and microorganisms living in saltmarsh plant habitats, which are important habitats for blue carbon sequestration.

Functions and Responsibilities

The predoctoral researcher will be responsible for the execution of all the tasks related to the large-scale mesocosm experiment described above. Such tasks imply the overall experiment monitoring and management, field data and sample gathering, laboratory sample processing and data management and analysis.

He/she will also be responsible for co-authoring the scientific papers that will form part of the PhD dissertation.

The predoctoral researcher may also be asked to perform other REST-COAST tasks relevant for the mesocosm experiment

Requirements

  • Requirements

Studies and Knowledge:

  • Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in biology, ecology, environmental engineering or similar
  • Conceptual analytical and evaluative skills to conduct independent research and analysis, including familiarity with and experience in the use of various data sources (own data from field surveys and laboratory analysis and external databases).
  • Proficiency in data management and analysis is required.
  • Knowledge of ecological modelling is desirable.

Soft Skills:

  • The person who will join the team should be a team player and he/she can build collaborative relationships
  • He/she should also be able to work in an autonomous way and communicate/document the results in a comprehensible and professional way
  • He/she should be self – motivated and passionate about the project and he/she should have strong sense of curiosity and experimentation.
  • A certain degree of mobility is expected due to PhD requirements (Conferences and Institutional visits)

Languages:

  • High oral and written communication skills in English 
  • Knowledge of Catalan or Spanish are desirable  
Job closed

  • Job: Investigador/a
  • Department: Sostenibilidad
  • Location: Amposta (Spain)
  • Contract: Temporary
  • Working day: Full time
  • Sector: Other
  • Vacancies: 1
  • Discipline: R&D