Postdoc: Designing governance systems for digital twin augmented urban resilience

Designing governance systems for digital twin augmented urban resilience

Job Description

The ResilientHydroTwin project focuses on developing and investigating how a participatory digital twin could improve adaptive urban resilience against extreme water events. This project is a collaboration between Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), and multiple industry partners, merging digital, hydrological, and socio-technical expertise to address flood management challenges in urban contexts. The project is funded through the Merian fund (NWO-DST cooperation).

With urbanization and climate change amplifying flood risks, traditional flood management approaches often fall short, resulting in property damage, infrastructure wear, and community disruptions. The ResilientHydroTwin project aims to reduce the impact of such disruptions using an integrated digital twin to simulate urban water system dynamics and human behaviors, enhancing real-time disaster response and resilience. This digital twin will serve as a 'living lab,' gathering data to evaluate adaptation strategies under various scenarios, ultimately aiding stakeholders in sustainable flood resilience planning. More details of the project can be found at  - https://www.nwo.nl/en/projects/482482302

As a postdoctoral researcher within this project, you will play a leading role in the design of governance systems for such city-scale digital twin-augmented urban resilience, particularly emphasizing social and governance aspects of flood risk management. This would involve collaborating and co-creating with interdisciplinary teams and multiple stakeholders to identify the stakeholder requirements and developing strategies on how the digital twins could be embedded within the existing practices within stakeholder processes for flood preparedness and management. Thus, you will be   building resilience, assessing adaptive strategies, and supporting data-driven decision-making to enhance flood management capabilities.

Job requirements

Key Responsibilities:

• Stakeholder identification and engagement for digital twin augmented urban resilience
• Develop and refine the behavioral aspects and stakeholder perspectives within integrated transport models incorporated in the digital twin, as well as in the resilience assessment of socio-technical systems.
• Conduct and facilitate multi-stakeholder workshops to co-create adaptation measures, helping to align technological solutions with local social dynamics.
• Co-create scenaros to improve flood prepardness and conduct comprehensive scenario analyses within the digital twin framework, assessing the effectiveness of adaptation strategies and resilience measures.
• Support digital twin integration for cross-system modeling of flood hazards and trasport systems, visualizing outcomes for improved decision-making.
• Manage project timelines, coordinate interdisciplinary collaboration, and enhance project visibility through publications and conference presentations.

Desired Qualifications:

• PhD in Civil Engineering, Governance, Management, Environmental Science, Urban Planning, or related fields focused on socio-technical resilience, hydrology, or digital twin technology.
• Prior experience or interest in participatory approaches, governance frameworks, or stakeholder collaboration.
• Prior experience in international collaborative research projects.
• Willingness to travel to India for collaborative research and workshops during the project duration.

TU Delft

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) 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. Our research feeds into our educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource availability, urbanisation and clean water. Our research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions. CEG is convinced of the importance of open science 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.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences.

Conditions of employment 

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Additional information

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Marian Bosch-Rekveldt (M.G.C.Bosch-Rekveldt@tudelft.nl), Johan Ninan (j.ninan@tudelft.nl), or Ranjith Soman (r.soman@tudelft.nl)

Application procedure

Apply via the application button and upload your CV and cover letter no later than 19 November 2024. The cover letter should explicitly address the following four questions:

1. How does your educational background and experience qualify you for the tasks listed above?

2. What methodologies would you employ to accomplish these tasks?

3. Do you have any experience working with stakeholders in the Netherlands?

4. How would you establish and maintain a stakeholder network to achieve the objectives outlined