Doctoral fellow

Job description

VACANCY FOR PHD POSITION ON NATURE-INCLUSIVE-DESIGN OF ADAPTED MARINE INFRASTRUCTURE USING OYSTER REEFS (PER30/2194)

PROJECT BACKGROUND
Driven by the EU legislation and governmental interest worldwide, nature-inclusive-design (NID) solutions targeting nature conservation and restoration, are becoming crucial in marine infrastructure projects. Such an example are NIDs based on European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) which are ecosystem engineers creating reefs that provide shelter, food and breeding habitats to a wide range of marine species. Oyster reefs used to be widely present in Europe, however, fishing and harvesting has destroyed most of these reefs thereby supressing their important ecosystem role. On the other hand, offshore marine infrastructure, such as wind parks and artificial islands, provide new opportunities because they can serve as suitable locations for oyster reef restoration or creation, as part of their nature-inclusive-design. However, methodologies for offshore flat oyster reef restoration or creation integrated in marine infrastructure, and at the same time applicable to the Belgian part of the North Sea, do not exist yet.

In view of the knowledge gaps which currently hinder large-scale flat oyster reef restoration, creation and integration in offshore marine infrastructure, the “REEFCOVERY” project has been recently introduced. REEFCOVERY is an ICON project (“Interdisciplinair Coöperatief onderzoek”) funded by VLAIO (Flanders innovation & entrepreneurship agency) through the yearly calls organised by the spearhead Blue Cluster. Project partners: Jan De Nul nv (project coordinator), Ghent University (three research groups), ResourceFull and DEME.

The project’s main objective is to overcome current scientific and technological challenges related to the understanding, design, installation, survivability, maintenance and monitoring of these reef ecosystems. Consequently, the target of Reefcovery is to investigate conditions that are necessary to ‘kick-start’ self-sustaining large-scale flat oyster reefs in North Sea conditions. The oyster NIDs which will be investigated within Reefcovery will support future large-scale restoration of habitats and marine ecosystem functioning as well as oyster reef applications as part of the nature-inclusive-design of nearshore and offshore marine infrastructure, i.e. biogenic reefs integrated in: coastal structures, scour protection of offshore wind monopiles, cable crossings, artificial energy islands, multi-use offshore platforms, etc.

In order to ensure successful application of large-scale oyster NIDs four “Research Lines” have been defined in the Reefcovery project. The research line referring to the present PhD topic is focussing on numerical and experimental investigation of the structural lay-out and hydrodynamic performance of the proposed NID oyster reefs. These reefs should enable marine structures to keep their primary functionality while supporting reef formation and biodiversity increase. In this research line, also large-scale installation techniques of oyster reefs, hydrodynamic survivability of the reefs (materials and structure), and reef operational efficiency and effective installation will be investigated.

TASK DESCRIPTION
The research will be carried out to develop and apply a framework to assess nature-inclusive designs for offshore infrastructure by numerical and physical modelling of wave-structure interactions for artificial biogenic reefs. Layout designs of oyster reef solutions will be developed during the project using input delivered by all four Research Lines of the project.

Within REEFCOVERY, you will be responsible for:

• the assessment of the stability of the new artificial units under different wave and current conditions.
• the planning, coordination, and implementation of the project tasks as described above.
• the interaction and coordination with international project partners and stakeholders, e.g., planning and execution of project meetings, workshops and in-house conferences.
• the contribution to the environmental impact assessment framework.
• the project communication and reporting, including writing project reports, scientific articles, etc…
• academic and teaching support.

Job profile

PROFILE

• Candidates must hold a Master’s degree in civil engineering, coastal/offshore engineering, (electro) mechanical engineering, or a related area, with a proven strong knowledge on coastal or offshore structures.
• Knowledge of and interest in numerical modelling of wave-structure interaction applications is essential.
• Prior experience (master thesis, internship) related to numerical modelling of wave-structure interaction is recommended.
• Hands-on experience in programming, data analysis and related statistics using appropriate software tools (e.g., MATLAB, Python) is recommended.
• Experience with physical modelling of wave-structure interaction is a plus.
• Knowledge of open source platforms (e.g., GitHub) is a plus.
• Candidates must have excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Candidates must be proficient in English.
• Candidates must be flexible, responsible and team workers.
  
  

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• Duration of the contract: start of 1 year, with extension to maximum 4 years, after evaluation.
• Your contract will start on 01/05/2024 at the earliest.
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, a bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits (in Dutch).
• An open, stimulating and multi-disciplinary research environment.
• A unique chance to join a challenging and one-of-a-kind international project in close collaboration with other research institutes, industry and government.
• Working place will be the Coastal Engineering Research Group at Ghent University (Technologiepark 60, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium).
• More detailed information on working at UGent is available on http://www.ugent.be/en/work.
• The Coastal Engineering Research Group website is available on http://www.ugent.be/ea/civil-engineering/en/research/coastal-bridges-roads/coastal-engineering.
• The Coastal and Ocean Basin Ostend website is available on http://www.cob.ugent.be

How to apply

APPLICATION DETAILS
To apply, please send your full CV with a cover letter indicating the reference number of the vacancy (PER30/2194), and explaining your motivation for this vacancy and highlighting any previous experience of coastal/ocean engineering and numerical modelling of wave-structure interaction, to Rafail.Ioannou@UGent.be and AWW@UGent.be before 30th April 2024.
Please send in addition a list with the names and contact details (address, telephone, e-mail) of at least one, but preferably up to three referees, closely associated with your expertise and skills.

MORE INFORMATION
For more information about this vacancy, please contact Prof. Peter Troch (Peter.Troch@UGent.be) and Rafail Ioannou (Rafail.Ioannou@UGent.be).