Nutrient export dynamics across spatial scales in current and future climatic conditions. PhD position within Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network “BEYOND”
This fully funded PhD position is available under the recently launched Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks (DN) project “BEYOND” Beyond the current: Improving European flowing waters in an era of global change. BEYOND will train the next generation of water professionals who will deliver scientific and technological innovation across disciplines, institutions and countries needed to solve European water quality problems in an era of global change.
The aim of this PhD position is to investigate
How nutrient export dynamics (i.e. long-term trend; seasonal variations and storm responses) vary across spatial scales from small headwater catchments (<10 km²) to mesoscale catchments (50-500 km²)
How hydro-climatic extremes (droughts, heatwaves, extreme precipitation events) differentially influence water quality according to catchment size and stream order.
The research work hypothesizes that the land-to-water delivery signal dominates nutrient export dynamics in the smaller catchments, while the influence of in-stream processes and point sources increases in larger catchments. This project will rely on high-resolution water quality monitoring data from research catchments in Sweden, Germany, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, complemented by an analysis of public water surveillance data across the EU. In addition to the analysis of these long-term environmental observation data, you will implement a 2-year water quality monitoring downstream of one of the research catchments (Agrhys in western France https://eng-agrhys.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/, 5km²) to study how the water chemistry signal observed by current monitoring propagates downstream. Data analysis methods will include statistical analysis of spatial and temporal data, and parsimonious modelling. As part of this PhD position, you will have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners for additional training and knowledge exchange.
The project will be supervised by Rémi Dupas (INRAE, France) and Ophélie Fovet (INRAE, France), and co-supervised by Magdalena Bieroza (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) and Per-Erik Mellander (Teagasc, Republic of Ireland). Miriam Glendell (James Hutton Institute, UK) and Michael Rode (UFZ, Germany) will be advisors for the PhD.
The position duration is three years. You will be based in the joint research unit SAS https://eng-umrsas.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/ in Rennes, France.
More information on BEYOND project and PhD selection process can be found at the following websites: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101169293 and https://www.slu.se/beyond
Website https://amethis.doctorat.org/amethis-client/prd/consulter/offre/917
The applicants must fill out the BEYOND application form following the URL below
forms.gle/rKrwomLcZr7Dwm9L9