Global change is increasingly impacting societies and challenging the sustainable provision of a range of services. Weather extremes, floods, drought, earthquakes, land degradation, pollution, and biodiversity loss are among the key challenges that jeopardize the resilience of populations, particularly in the majority world.
Financial tools can help to enhance this resilience. This can include tools like incentivizing restoration actions, offering financial protection, such as insurance and social protection pay-outs, at times of distress such as droughts or floods, and developing forecast-based finance systems that enable early action ahead of anticipated shocks. Geo-information, including near real-time information from earth observation, is increasingly used for informing such strategies, e.g. by triggering humanitarian early action or insurance payments. Accurate and timely delivery of relevant location-specific information is critical for information financing strategies.
Based on a solid background in risk financing, combined with geo-information and earth observation, you will focus on effectively contributing with geospatial expertise to the development of a broad range of collaborative and financial tools. In addition, you will link ITC’s geospatial expertise to international networks and financing initiatives, such as the Anticipation Hub, InsuResilience, and the Global Shield Financing Facility.
You will develop a research direction and educational profile within the ambitions of the Faculty, the University of Twente, and the Netherlands sector of Earth and Environmental Sciences. You will contribute to our MSc programmes, co-supervise graduate students and work with our E-Learning specialists to develop online educational materials.
You will coordinate and handle management tasks as well as take an active approach towards strengthening our national network, in particular in the wider Earth and Environmental Sciences domain in the Netherlands. You have experience, or at least a documented strong interest, in risk financing, including product design and/or risk modelling, preferably related to disaster risk management in the developing world with one or more international organizations; scientific creativity that has resulted in recent and relevant high-quality scientific publications in international journals; affinity with managing projects and writing project proposals; competence in open-source programming languages, such as R or Python, is an advantage.
YOUR PROFILE
- A PhD degree, or close to completion, in geo-information and earth observation, earth sciences, environmental sciences, geography or related field with a strong affinity with (environmental) economics, (sustainable) finance, (spatial) econometrics, or a PhD degree, or close to completion, in (environmental) economics, (sustainable) finance, (spatial) econometrics or related field with a strong affinity in geo-information and earth observation, earth sciences, environmental sciences, geography or related fields
- Experience in risk financing, including product design and/or risk modelling, preferably related to disaster risk management in the developing world with one or more international organizations; scientific creativity that has resulted in recent and relevant high-quality scientific publications in international journals; experience in handling projects and writing project proposals; competence in open-source programming languages, such as R or Python, is an advantage
- Interest in translating your research into practical applications and collaborating with partners
- Embrace Open Science and FAIR data principles
- A passion for education, supervising graduate students and emerging researchers, and the ability to develop high-quality education materials
- A curiosity about contributing to the capacity development mission of ITC and willingness to undertake international travel to low- and middle-income countries
- Thrive in a multi-cultural academic environment, and like working in a range of international and interdisciplinary contexts
- Excellent command of English. Knowledge of, and/or willingness to learn Dutch is an advantage
- A team-work mentality; you enjoy collaborating to develop high-quality research outputs
OUR OFFER
- An inspiring multidisciplinary, international and academic environment. The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda
- Position for initially one year (full-time), after which your position can become permanent, subject to a successful evaluation
- Gross monthly salary between € 4,332.- and € 4,786.- (depending on experience and qualifications, job profile Assistant Professor, level 2). This is the maximum start salary with growth opportunities
- A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%
- Excellent support for professional and personal development
- A solid pension scheme
- A total of 41 holiday days in case of full-time employment
- Costs for moving to Enschede may be reimbursed
INFORMATION AND APPLICATION
For more information, you can contact Prof Mark van der Meijde (e-mail: m.vandermeijde@utwente.nl) or Dr Marija Bockarjova (m.bockarjova@utwente.nl). You are also invited to visit our homepage.
Please submit your application before 30 September 2023. Your application has to include (i) a letter outlining your motivation and fit for the position, and (ii) a CV with two references.
Job interviews will be held in week 44 (30 October – 3 November) and/or 45 (6 – 10 November 2023).