Two predoctoral contracts in soil erosion and sediment production in mountain areas
Geosciences Instrumentation and Data Systems (GI)
Natural Hazards (NH)
We are seeking two highly motivated PhD candidates to join the Spanish research project MUSSED at BarcelonaTech (UPC). The research will focus on the sediment production and erosion in mountain zones, which are key drivers of land degradation and desertification, and also of sediment infilling of water reservoirs.
The work plan of MUSSED consists of three blocks dealing with (1) erosion in badland areas, (2) erosion in debris torrential catchments and open hillslopes, and (3) upscaling of sediment yield to upper river valley heads as well as the assessment of the impacts of future scenarios due to climate change as well as land cover and wildfire variations.
Long time series of field monitoring data series are already available for the study areas, which are considered internationally as true natural laboratories and will be enlarged during the project.
The project will apply a multi-disciplinary approach using (1) advanced geotechnical and geomatic monitoring techniques to characterise and measure the soil production and erosion processes at several spatial scales, and (2) co-development and validation of modelling tools applying this multiscale approach. Physically-based models will be implemented at the local scale, and ensembled physically-based and machine-learning models at a larger scale.
Position 1 is mainly linked to soil production and erosion in fine‐grained humid badlands, which are being monitored in a fluvial basin of South-eastern Pyrenees (Saldes basin).
Position 2 is mainly linked to coarse- and mixed-grained sediment production and flux due to torrential flows in a catchment of the South-Central Pyrenees (Senet basin) and to shallow landslides during two past regional landslide events in the area.
Requisites
- The candidates must fulfil the requirements for admission to the UPC's doctoral program (https://doctorat.upc.edu/en/future-doctoral-candidates/access-and-admission/general-entrance-requirements)
- Candidates should have a bachelor degree and a Master degree in civil, environmental and/or geological engineering/applied geomorphology, preferably in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), with a grade point average for undergraduate and master's degree transcripts of 6.5 or higher (on a scale of 10).
A full description of the jobs can be found here: https://engeomodels.upc.edu/en/news/news-sample
Application must be delivered until 5-oct-2025 through: https://engeomodels.upc.edu/en/news/news-sample