[ES_JOBS_NET] PhD vacancy on sustainable cities in Amsterdam

[Malek, Z.]

Dear all,

Do you have a passion for (big) geospatial data analysis as well as human settlements, and would you like to work in research and teaching on sustainable land use in an interdisciplinary team? We are looking for a colleague, that would work as a PhD student on ““Mapping human settlements at large spatial scales” at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

The link to the vacancy, which is open until October 3: https://werkenbij.vu.nl/ad/vidi_2/02sjfb

The role of this PhD is to conduct innovative research on the characterization of human settlements beyond the identification of built-up areas only. The successful candidate will use a range of geospatial datasets to identify different types of human settlements, such as suburbs, peri-urban areas, slums, and urban centres. These data include remote sensing imagery of various types, but also gridded socioeconomic data, road and infrastructure networks, census and (DHS) survey data, data from social media, and potentially other sources of information. These data will be processed using statistical analysis as well as artificial intelligence algorithms for supervised classification (specifically the project aims to employ convoluted neural networks (CNN) to identify spatial patterns in human settlements). Results will be used to better understand dynamics in human settlements as well as to improve large-scale land use models for projecting land use change trajectories. Within this project an intensive collaboration with the German Aerospace Agency (DLR) - Earth Observation Centre is foreseen.

DUTIES

  *   identify different types of human settlements and create ground-truth data for these types
  *   develop and employ different methods for mapping human settlements at large spatial scales (including statistical as well as machine learning approaches)
  *   analyse the occurrence and changes in different settlement types
  *   support the improvement of large-scale land use models
  *   present findings in international (peer-reviewed) journals and scientific conferences
  *   support teaching activities at BSc and MSc level
REQUIREMENTS

  *   Master degree in geography, geo-informatics, or a related discipline with strong spatial / analytical components
  *   good spatial analysis skills, including GIS and remote sensing
  *   good programming / scripting skills
  *   interested in scientific research on land use and human settlements
  *   willingness to travel abroad for collaborative projects (Including DLR)
  *   ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and contribute to activities of the Environmental Geography group, in which this position is embedded
WHAT ARE WE OFFERING?

A challenging position in a socially involved organization. The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel and amounts €2,325 (PhD) per month during the first year and increases to €2,972 (PhD) per month during the fourth year, based on a full-time employment. The job profile is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for 1 FTE.

The appointment will initially be for 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, the contract will be extended for a duration of 4 years in total.

Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:

  *   a maximum of 41 days of annual leave based on full-time employment
  *   8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
  *   solid pension scheme (ABP)
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
Established in 1971, IVM is a leading environmental research institute that is internationally recognised for its high quality research output in a range of environmental disciplines, as well as for its interdisciplinary work. The mission of the institute is to contribute to sustainable development and care for the environment through scientific research and teaching. IVM aims to do excellent problem-oriented research that is useful to a wide range of stakeholders in the Netherlands and internationally. A unique strength of our research is to understand sustainability problems in their social and economic context. IVM’s research community works within four departments: Environmental Economics; Environmental Policy Analysis; Environmental Geography; and Water and Climate Risk.

Vacancy questions

If you have any questions regarding this vacancy, you may contact:

Name: Jasper van Vliet
E-mail: jasper.van.vliet at vu.nl<mailto:jasper.van.vliet at vu.nl>
Website: www.ivm.vu.nl<https://interne.vacatures.vu.nl/>


Thank you!

Kind regards,

Dr. Žiga Malek
Assistant Professor, Environmental Geography Group

Instituut voor Milieuvraagstukken (IVM) – Institute for Environmental Studies
[cid:image003.png at 01D2F1A1.DA341240]
T +31 20 59 82231 | z.malek at vu.nl<mailto:z.malek at vu.nl>
MAILING ADDRESS: De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
VISITING ADDRESS: De Boelelaan 1085, WN Building, Room A-654
www.ivm.vu.nl<http://www.ivm.vu.nl/>
http://research.vu.nl/en/persons/žiga-malek

VU University – Looking further

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