IIASA Job Opportunity: Research Scholar (Postdoc) – Water Program

The IIASA Water Program is hiring a Research Scholar (Postdoc level) to work on the Belmont Forum-funded Food-Water-Energy for Urban Sustainable Environments (FUSE) project, to further develop, implement, and apply the in-house hydro-economic modeling framework (ECHO). This includes the development of interfaces for integrating ECHO and the in-house models, including the hydrological model, Community Water Model (CWatM), and AquaCrop crop model, and the development and application of modules for agricultural and energy sectors within ECHO. The development of these linkages will help to consistently evaluate the effects of implementing innovative food-water-energy solutions, including new agricultural practices, infrastructure, policies, or small-scale interventions needed to address water scarcity.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Assist with the development of the hydro-economic modeling framework (ECHO) at different spatial and temporal resolutions, in order to enhance its usability for different research and policy questions
• Assist with the development of interfaces for integrating ECHO, CWatM and AquaCrop
• Assist with the development of modules for agricultural and energy sectors and their linkages to the core ECHO modeling framework
• Compile databases of and assess the cost and effectiveness of innovative FWE solutions, including innovative agricultural water management practices
• Implement scenarios in ECHO modeling framework and conduct policy analysis in the framework of FUSE project
• Publish relevant results of own research in peer-reviewed journals and participate in scientific conferences and workshops
• Assist and support the Water group in the different ongoing projects
• In line with the team spirit that prevails at IIASA, the incumbent will occasionally work on other tasks assigned by their superiors, that may not be directly related to this appointment but where the post holder has relevant experience and skills, and/or a shortage of immediate personnel capabilities requires such.

REQUIRED SKILLS: 

• PhD degree in natural resources and environmental economics, water resources economics and management, agricultural economics or a related field
• Strong interest and background in integrative systems analysis and development of tools to support water and agricultural management decisions
• Strong interest and background in connecting research work to stakeholders’ engagement processes.
• Experience with applied economic models in GAMS, either at sector level or in the general equilibrium framework
• Proven analytical skills and ease in manipulating large datasets and complex modeling systems
• Programming knowledge and proficiency (e.g., Python, R)
• Experience with geographic information systems (e.g., ArcGIS or QGIS)
• Proven experience publishing scientific work in high-impact refereed international scientific journals
• Willingness and interest to work in different socio-economic contexts including travels to developing countries
• Demonstrated ability to work well both independently and as part of a multicultural team
• Full fluency in English (written and verbal) is required.

Appointment Terms:

The successful candidate should be available to take up the position as soon as possible from 1 November 2020, and will initially be offered a full-time (40 hours per week), fixed-term contract for one year with the possibility for extension to an open-ended contract thereafter. Duties will be carried out at the IIASA premises in Laxenburg, near Vienna in Austria.

Deadline for receipt of applications: 15 October 2020.

Further information can be found in the attached vacancy announcement or on our website.