PhD in Land and Water System Innovations at Delft University of Technology

PhD in Land and Water System Innovations at Delft University of Technology

Recently, an interdisciplinary research project was approved by the UNESCO-IHE Partnership Research Fund (UPaRF). This project will form part of the broader successor programme of SSI, in which the following institutes collaborate: UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (Delft, The Netherlands), University of Dar Es Salaam, University of KwaZulu Natal, Delft University of Technology, the International Water Management Institute, Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Within the current project a PhD positions is available, linked to the themes described below. If successful, the PhD degree will be awarded by Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. PhD position available at UNESCO-IHE (SSI-2 Project)Upscaling small-scale land and water system innovations in dryland agro-ecosystems for sustainability and livelihood improvements (SSI-2) http://www.unesco-ihe.org/Research/PhD-Research/Available-PhD-Positions/PhD-position-available-at-UNESCO-IHE-SSI-2-Project)

Project description
The project focuses on the semi-arid areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where 95% of the total agricultural land is used for rainfed agriculture, water availability is scarce and highly variable, and average yields often remain below 1 ton per ha. The resilience of the farming systems is low as well, due the large (and increasing) variability of the hydro-climatic conditions and a limited capacity to adapt. As a result,crop failure is the norm. Water availability is a key entry point to improve crop productivity in these regions (Falkenmark and Rockstrom, 2004). The research and outreach programme of Smallholder systems innovations in integrated watershed management (SSI-1, 2004-2008) thus focused on the identification and application of innovative agricultural water management practices that offer opportunities to increase both food security and safeguard environmental integrity. The impact of these innovations on food production and ecosystems has been studied at field and watershed scale at sites in the Thukela river basin in South Africa and the Pangani river basin in Tanzania. There is a growing awareness that a real transformation of the countryside will only be possible if innovative soil and water technologies and land and water management practices are adopted, and locally adapted, at a large scale and in combination with increased fertilizer use (see e.g. Rijsberman, 2004; Polak, 2005; Rockstrom et al., 2007). Only then will rural areas be able to transform from their current position of marginalization and poverty to a motor of socio-economic development (Prahalad, 2004). Since the conditions under which such a transformation may occur, as well as the potential impacts at different scales, are still ill-understood, a new project will focus on the socio-economic and bio-physical conditions and impacts of upscaling these innovations. This new project (SSI-2, 2008-2012) will take note of some new drivers that influence the opportunities for agricultural innovation and rural socio-economic transformation: increasing food prices, increased access to information in the rural countryside, climate change impacts, and the limited access of farmers to energy sources in the face of an increasing global demand for biofuels (e.g., de Wit and Stankiewics,2006; Uhlenbrook, 2007). The two PhD research projects form part of the broader SSI-2 programme.

PhD Project 1: Water processes at different spatial scales
This research theme addresses the hydrological implications for up-scaling land and water system innovations. The objective is to gain better understanding of the interactions between processes linking local and larger scales. The analysis focuses on how the dominant hydrological processes may change at different spatial scales. The research builds on the understanding of the hydrological processes gained during SSI-1, with a stronger emphasis on groundwater- surface water interactions and potential implications of/for land management changes. It is hypothesised that surface-groundwater interactions are critical to the impacts of water system innovations, and that it impacts vary with scale and different physiographic characteristics. This hypothesis will be verified in the field and the results used for predictive modelling to determine impacts of up-scaled use of WSIs on water quantity and quality for downstream users under different scenarios. The surface-groundwater interactions (including wetlands) are also crucial for the hydrological variability and water resources availability at different scales and, consequently, for the provision of ecosystem services.

Research question:
What are the hydrological impacts of small scale farming activities, incl. water system innovations, across different scales? Particular attention will be paid to different types of rainwater harvesting, supplementary irrigation and full scale irrigation.

Methodology:
Understanding the hydrological impacts of small scale farming activities across different scales, requires the understanding of the hydrological processes at these scales. This research will take up the small scale hydrological understanding (project 3.1) and investigate the large scale (500-5,000-45, 000 km2) hydrological processes through the use of remote sensing data combined with field observations (incl. hydro-chemical and tracers studies). Of particular interest is the groundwater surface water interaction (incl. generation of wetlands) and the impact of this on the downstream water availability (PBWO, 2006). A process-based distributed hydrological model will be developed to investigate different scenarios of uptake and extent of the small scale farming activities.

This study will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Stefan Uhlenbrook, Dr. Jan Willem Foppen, Dr Shreedhar Maskey (UNESCO-IHE) , Dr. T.A. Kimaro (UDSM).

The following applies to the position:
– All topics will be carried out in a so-called sandwich construction with different phases at UNESCO-IHE in the Netherlands and field research in Tanzania (with regular contacts with Tanzanian and Dutch supervisors).
- PhD positions are funded with a fellowship for which NUFFIC regulations apply.
- Starting date: April 1, 2009 for 4 years.
- Qualifications: M.Sc. degree (average mark: 80% or above) in a discipline relevant to the topic, e.g. environmental engineering, socio-economics of the water sector, hydrology and water resources.
- The applicants must demonstrate a strong interest and experience in conducting interdisciplinary research.
- The applicant should be willing to co-operated with other researchers in the SSI-2 programme.
- The applicants should be willing to co-supervise MSc research projects.
- The applicants must be fluent in English.
- Preferred country of citizenship of the applicants is Tanzania.
- Age: 40 years and below.
- Work experience in relevant fields of studies is desirable.

The project it is jointly led by Dr. T.A. Kimaro (kimaro@wrep.udsm.ac.tz) and Ms. M.L. Mul (m.mul@unesco-ihe.org) of UNESCO-IHE.

Applications, including curriculum vitae, the names and contact details of three contactable referees, and a motivation letter, should be sent by email to both Dr. T.A. Kimaro and Ms. M.L. Mul before 31 January 2009.

Please mention the subject heading PhD application SSI-2 project 1.

We intend to contact short-listed candidates on or before 15 February 2009.

FULBRIGHT Master`s Degree Program

FULBRIGHT MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAM

Preference will be given to applicants who serve as faculty members of state and private institutions of higher education in Indonesia. Applicants will possess:
1. a Sarjana (S1) degree with a minimum GPA of 3.0 (4.00 scale)
2. leadership qualities
3. a good understanding of Indonesian and international cultures a
4. demonstrated commitment to the chosen field of study
5. a willingness to return to Indonesia upon completion of the Fulbright program
6. a minimum TOEFL score of 550

HOW TO APPLY
Candidates should complete the appropriate application forms. Forms are available either by mail or in person at the AMINEF Office, Gedung Balai Pustaka, 6th floor, Jl. Gunung Sahari Raya 4, Jakarta 10720.

Please return to AMINEF your complete application package by the application deadline that includes:
1. Completed application form. This includes a clearly written and concise study objective.
2. Copy of your most recent, less than two years old, TOEFL score report.
3. One letter of reference, either from your current employer or previous lecturer.
4. Copy of academic transcript (English translation).
5. Copy of identity document (KTP or passport).

CONTACT INFORMATION
Specific questions regarding the application process may be addressed via e-mail to the following address: infofulbright_ind@aminef.or.id. We do not accept email applications. Hard copies must be sent or delivered to American Indonesian Exchange Foundation.

DEADLINE
The deadline for the submission of application materials for all programs is May 31, 2009.

Note: Program requirements are subject to change without notice.

More information visit:
http://www.aminef.or.id/fulbright.php?site=fulbright&m=ip-pro-ma-fulbrightma

UPEACE Costa Rica Campus Scholarship

Apply Now to the United Nations mandated University for Peace
(Deadline: Feb 28th)

Headquartered in Costa Rica, the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) was established in 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the UN General Assembly. As determined in the Charter of the University and endorsed by the UPEACE Council, the mission of the University for Peace is: “to provide humanity with an international institution of higher education for peace with the aim of promoting among all human beings the spirit of understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence, to stimulate cooperation among peoples and to help lessen obstacles and threats to world peace and progress, in keeping with the noble aspirations proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations.”

At present, the UPEACE Costa Rica Campus has 150 students from 55 different countries, making it one of the most diverse universities in the world for its size. UPEACE is the only institution in the UN family authorized to grant degrees at the Master`s and Doctoral levels. The language of instruction is English.

Graduates of the University for Peace go on to work in the United Nations system, others international organizations and NGOs, academia, private companies. For more information about UPEACE alumni visit “Upeacebuilders: the UPEACE Alumni Network Website” at http://www.upeacebuilders.org

Degrees Offered:
1. MA in Environmental Security and Peace
2. MA in International Law and Human Rights
3. MA in International Law and Settlement of Disputes
4. MA in Peace Education
5. MA in Gender and Peacebuilding
6. MA in International Peace Studies
7. MA in Media, Peace, and Conflict
8. MA in Natural Resources and Peace
9. MA in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (with American University)

Programs in Development:
1. MA in Responsible Business Administration and Peace (MRBA)
2. MA in Sustainable Economic Development and peace
3. MA in Health, Disability, and Peace

Application Deadline:
The deadline for applications is February 28th, 2009 for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Complete information about the application process is available on the UPEACE website at www.upeace.org

UN SMA/MA Berlangsung Lima Hari

Penyelenggaraan ujian nasional (UN) jenjang sekolah menengah pertama/madrasah tsanawiah (SMP/MTs.) maupun sekolah menengah atas/Madrasah aliah (SMA/MA) tahun pelajaran 2008/2009 akan berlangsung April mendatang. Khusus pelaksanaan UN pada jenjang SMA/MA, jumlah waktunya bertambah dibandingkan dengan tahun lalu, yaitu dari tiga hari menjadi lima hari.

Pada jenjang SMP/MTs., ujian utama akan dilaksanakan pada 27, 28, 29, dan 30 April 2009, sedangkan ujian susulan 4, 5, 6, dan 7 Mei 2009. Sementara ujian utama jenjang SMA/MA dilaksanakan pada 20, 21, 22, 23, dan 24 April 2009, sedangkan ujian susulan dilaksanakan 27, 28, 29, 30 April 2009, dan 1 Mei 2009.

Ujian utama sekolah menengah kejuruan (SMK) diselenggarakan 20, 21, dan 22 April 2009, sedangkan ujian susulan 27, 28, dan 29 April 2009. Jadwal UN kompetensi keahlian SMK harus selesai satu minggu sebelum UN utama dan mengacu pada ketentuan khusus tentang teknis pelaksanaan uji kompetensi keahlian.

Mata pelajaran yang diujikan untuk jenjang SMP/MTs meliputi bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Inggris, Matematika, dan Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam (IPA). Pada jenjang SMA/MA program IPA, mata pelajaran yang diujikan meliputi bahasa Indonesia, Biologi, bahasa Indonesia, Biologi, bahasa Inggris, Matematika, Fisika, dan Kimia. Sementara, untuk program IPS meliputi bahasa Indonesia, Sosiologi, Bahasa Inggris, Matematika, Geografi, dan Ekonomi.

Adapun untuk program bahasa, mata pelajaran yang diujikan meliputi bahasa Indonesia, Sejarah budaya/antropologi, bahasa inggris, matematika, sastra indonesia, dan bahasa Asing. Sementara untuk program keagamaan, meliputi bahasa Indonesia, ilmu kalam, bahasa Inggris, matematika, ilmu hadis, dan ilmu tafsir.

Pengumuman hasil UN SMP/MTs dilakukan serentak di sekolah/madrasah penyelenggara selambat-lambatnya minggu ketiga bulan Juni 2009. Sementara pengumuman hasil UN SMA/MA/SMK selambat-lambatnya pada minggu kedua bulan Juni 2009.

Birokrasi Hambat Mahasiswa Studi ke Luar Negri

Para mahasiswa yang ingin melanjutkan studi ke luar negri, masih terhambat oleh birokrasi kampus. Birokrasi tersebut memperlambat sosialisasi informasi beasiswa dan pemenuhan persyaratan yang harus segera dilengkapi oleh mahasiswa.

Banyak informasi beasiswa yang dipasang beberapa hari menjelang hari penutupan beasiswa. Akibatnya mahasiswa kehilangan waktu untuk menyiapkan berbagai persyaratan. Oleh karenanya banyak mahasiswa yang mencari sendiri informasi beasiswa di internet dan di milis online.

Untuk mengurus persyaratan yang dibutuhkan dalam mengambil beasiswa, memerlukan waktu yang cukup lama. Biasanya birokrasi yang rumit ini terjadi saat di kampus. Misalnya saja pengalihan bahasa dalam ijasah dan IPK ke dalam bahasa inggris oleh pihak kampus memakan waktu dua minggu. Sedangkan birokrasi lainnya adalah surat keterangan sehat, visa, dan beberapa pengurusan dokumen lainnya yang memakan biaya cukup mahal.

Dapat disimpulkan bahwa saat ini mahasiswa atau pun pelajar yang hendak mendapatkan beasiswa hendaknya mencari informasi beasiswa dari sumber-sumber lain seperti situs yang menampilkan informasi beasiswa, situs universitas di luar/dalam negri, dan tentu saja di luluus.wordpress.com ini.

UK Scholarships for Doctoral Study in Computer Science

UK – Oxford University Computing Laboratory
The Computing Laboratory invites applications for full and partial scholarships for D.Phil. (Doctor of Philosophy) study to commence in October 2009.
Application deadline: 23 January 2009

The Computing Laboratory is among the world’s leading Computer Science departments. It is a centre for research in computer science, numerical analysis, computational biology, quantum computation, computational linguistics, and information systems, supported by £27M of research grants from research councils, EU and industry. Our students obtain an outstanding education in computer science through a variety of undergraduate and graduate programmes, including a part-time, professional programme in software engineering.

The Laboratory’s research strength derives from its firm grounding in core Computer Science disciplines, a high degree of mathematical sophistication among its researchers, and its committed engagement with applications and interdisciplinary work. Over the past several years we have significantly broadened the spectrum of computing research in the Laboratory. The intake of graduate students has substantially increased, and we now have over 100 graduate research students.

The scholarships available for full-time D.Phil. study include EPSRC Doctoral Training Awards (DTA), Clarendon scholarships and departmental awards. DTA scholarships are of three and a half years’ duration and include college and university fees and maintenance of at least £12,940 per annum. Full DTA awards are available to home students or EU students who studied in the UK for three years previously. Partial (fees only) DTA awards are available to EU students. Departmental awards are typically partial and carry no nationality restrictions. Clarendon scholarships are for three years, are partial (fees or maintenance) or full and are open to all international (non-UK/non-EU) students. In addition, a broad range of scholarships are available at Oxford, for example Commonwealth, KC Wong and Scatcherd European (nationality and course restrictions apply).

There are three application deadlines, 21 November 2008, 23 January 2009 and 13 March 2009. Scholarship applications must be received by 23 January 2009 at the latest to be considered for 2009 start. The scholarships are highly competitive. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed and decisions are expected in March 2009. If additional D.Phil. studentships become available they will be advertised here.

Click here for more details and application details (.pdf)

Further information is available from: graduate.admissions@comlab.ox.ac.uk

Click here to download the poster (.pdf)

Website: http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/

Postgraduate Studentship in Mathematical Models

MATHEMATICAL INSTITUTE AND ST ANNE’S COLLEGE

, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

STUDENTSHIP covers fees (University and College) and maintenance.

Applications are invited for a postgraduate studentship, funded by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology Global Research Partnership [KAUST GRP], to work on “Mathematical models of spatially coherent brain states” under the supervision of Prof Paul Bressloff. This DPhil studentship will start on 1 October 2009, is available to all nationalities, covers maintenance and full overseas fees and will be based in the newly established Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics (OCCAM).

OCCAM has been established with substantial funding from the KAUST GRP. The Centre, which is part of the Mathematical Institute, will be allied to a global network of mathematicians. Aiming to meet the ever-increasing global demand for quantitative understanding of complex scientific phenomena, OCCAM has been built on the strength of four pre-existing groups of applied and computational mathematicians working in Oxford: the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the Centre for Mathematical Biology, the Numerical Analysis Group and the Computational Biology Group. It has a symbiotic relationship with other scientific communities which have a need for problem-solving mathematics both within the University of Oxford and beyond. Over the first five years the centre will employ over 40 new staff and students.

Our primary goal is to understand the role of neural circuitry in generating spatially coherent activity states in the cerebral cortex. One of the striking features of the cortex is that there are distinct neural circuits acting on different spatial scales. There are very short-range circuits that bundle neurons into coherent modules known as columns, local inter-columnar circuits that are responsible for local sensory processing, long-range circuits that carry out spatial integration across multiple features, and feedback circuits that mediate attentional signals from higher brain regions. We will incorporate these multi-scale anatomical structures into a mathematical model of cortex. This will take the form of a system of integrodifferential equations whose integral kernels represent the spatial distribution of the synaptic connections between neurons at the various spatial scales. Solutions of these equations will determine the spatiotemporal patterns of spontaneous and stimulus-evoked neural activity across the cortex.

We will extend analytical methods developed for nonlinear PDE models of diffusively coupled excitable systems in order to derive conditions for the existence and stability of coherent activity states in our nonlocal neural model. Techniques will include multi-scale analysis, (symmetric) bifurcation theory and singular perturbation theory. A challenging aspect of the analysis will be to incorporate the effects of noise and network heterogeneities. The mathematical aspects of the work will also have broader impact on a variety of population-based biological systems, in which the basic elements at the molecular, cellular or organismal level interact nonlocally in space. Such systems are typically described in terms of integrodifferential equations, which cannot be reduced to equivalent finite-order differential equations, except for very restricted choices of the interaction kernels.

The collaborators on this project are Dr. Alessandra Angelucci (Department of Ophthalmology, University of Utah) and Dr. Ole Paulsen (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford).

The studentship is attached to St Anne’s College.

For information about OCCAM please visit our website: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/occam

Applications can be made online at www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/apply/how_to_apply.html and should include a CV, covering letter, three references and a transcript of your undergraduate degree. Alternatively, applications can be sent to Margaret Sloper at the Mathematical Institute using the University’s application form for graduate study, which can be downloaded from the above link. Applications must arrive by end of day Friday 27th February 2009. The reference for this application is BK/08/075; make sure that you state this in the covering letter. Applicants must arrange for their referees to send references directly to the Graduate Studies Assistant (fax or e-mail is sufficient) by the closing date. For further details about the projects, including the application process, please see www.maths.ox.ac.uk/notices/vacancies, or contact Graduate Studies, email graduate.studies[AT]maths.ox.ac.uk

Oxford University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Closing Date: 27 Feb 2009