DC-26120-PHD ON FOREST-WATER RELATIONS DURING DROUGHT

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) active in the fields of materials, environment and IT. By transforming scientific knowledge into technologies, smart data and tools, LIST empowers citizens in their choices, public authorities in their decisions and businesses in their strategies.

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Your LIST benefits

• An organization with a passion for impact and strong RDI partnerships in Luxembourg and Europe that works on responsible and independent research projects
• Sustainable by design, empowering our belief that we play an essential role in paving the way to a green society
• Innovative infrastructures and exceptional labs occupying more than 5,000 square metres, including innovations in all that we do
• An environment encouraging curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship in all areas
• Personalized learning programme to foster our staff’s soft and technical skills
• Multicultural and international work environment with more than 50 nationalities represented in our workforce
• Diverse and inclusive work environment empowering our people to fulfil their personal and professional ambitions
• Gender-friendly environment with multiple actions to attract, develop and retain women in science
• 32 days’ paid annual leave, 11 public holidays, 13-month salary, statutory health insurance
• Flexible working hours, home working policy and access to Digital lunch vouchers

Fixed term contract | Belvaux | up to 48 Months (14 months initial contract)

Are you passionate about research? So are we! Come and join us

How will you contribute?

This is a PhD project to investigate the role of evaporation during small rainfall events on forest function. Low-volume water pathways in forests such as direct absorption of water and evaporation from the forest floor may become greater in importance during drought. This research will focus on innovative measurements of these processes, using isotopic tracers, micrometeorological monitoring, and emerging techniques to estimate fluxes in trees and soil. Instrumented field sites in Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the Netherlands will allow inter-site comparisons. 

This position is within the Catchment and Ecohydrology Group, which is part of the Environmental Sensing and Modelling Unit at LIST. Collaborating groups are the Water Systems Monitoring & Modelling group at Delft University of Technology and the Institute of Environmental Engineering and WaldLab Zürich at ETH Zürich.

Duties will be:

• Collaborative selection of research hypotheses and design of experiments, building on the experience of collaborators at LIST and partner universities
• Primary responsibility for field measurements of water and energy fluxes in forests
• Primary responsibility for modeling field data to isolate controlling processes
• Participation in the interdisciplinary doctoral training unit, “Forest Function Under Stress”, focusing on drought in forested landscapes. Project website: https://www.list.lu/en/environment/project/forfus/

Is your profile described below? Are you our future colleague? Apply now!

Education

• MSc or equivalent in hydrology or other environmental science
• Experience with micrometeorology, environmental biophysics, tree ecophysiology, soil science, and related topics are all helpful
• Skill and interest in designing and executing field data collection
• Skill and interest in data modeling using physically-based numerical and statistical tools

Language skills

• Fluency in English, both oral and written. Skills in French is an asset.