PhD in Water Security, Hydroclimate Volatility and Optimisation University of Melbourne in Canada

PhD opportunity in water security, hydroclimate volatility, robust optimisation, water resources modelling, climate change uncertainty, environmental water, and land-use management at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) through the C4LaNd International Research Training Group.

The project focuses on robust optimisation of water supply portfolios under hydroclimatic extremes. Research themes include hydroclimate volatility, droughts, floods, interannual variability, water resource system modelling and optimisation, climate change projections and uncertainty quantification, environmental water and integrated land-water management, and machine learning/statistical modelling.

The successful candidate will join a multi-disciplinary cohort and spend substantial time at both institutions: two years in Australia and one year in Germany. The programme is a joint PhD collaboration between the University of Melbourne and KIT, and successful candidates will graduate with a PhD from both institutions.

Applicants should have a strong background in engineering, water resources, environmental science, climate science, mathematics, statistics, or a related discipline. Experience with coding/modelling and handling large datasets is desirable.

The project is led within C4LaNd, which also involves researchers including Ben Henley, Wenyan Wu, Peer Nowack, Rebekka Volk, Almut Arneth, and Stephan Winter. Applications close on 30 June 2026.