PhD Scholarship in Fishery and Fisheries Ecosystem Impact Modelling

The project will primarily be carried out in affiliation to the Section for Ecosystem-based Management which is situated in Lyngby, Denmark. DTU Aqua is an institute at the Technical University of Denmark.

The purpose of DTU Aqua is to provide research, advice and education at the highest international level within the sustainable exploitation of living marine and freshwater resources, the biology of aquatic organisms and the development of ecosystems as well as their integration in ecosystem-based management. The institute has an international research staff comprising approx. 120 academic employees.

Project description
The overall aim is to model the interlinked marine fisheries, fish stock, and benthic habitat/community dynamics and their interactions with focus on ecosystem impacts of fisheries and fisheries management. This involves application and further development of bio-economic spatial and agent-based modelling techniques for simulating individual fishing vessels moving in some (e.g. virtual) marine environment. The project offers opportunity for making significant advance in an important field of fisheries research concerning estimating the various ecological and socio-economics trade-offs among fisheries incomes, the sustainability of the fish stocks harvested, and the impacts and sensitivity of the benthic habitats/communities given different fisheries management options. This further integrates aspects of fishing fleet economics and drivers linked to the varying agent´s decision making. Mitigating fisheries in time and space is considered an attractive management solution provided that recent data can support highly resolved risk assessment model¬ling tools and simulations to document and anticipate potential long term effects and expected related benefits of management scenarios and actions within the ecological-economic system under concern.

The specific purposes are to:

• Application and further development of bio-economic spatial and agent based modelling and simulation methodology;
• Estimating ecological and socio-economics trade-offs of management scenarios with respect to fisheries economic effects, harvested stock sustainability, and benthic impacts;
• Evaluate fisheries interactions with occupation of space by other marine sectors (renewable energy, large marine constructions, aquaculture, transport/shipping, conservation such as Natura2000 areas / benthic sensitive habitats,  etc.) with respect to their ecological-economic effects;
• Modelling fisheries with fine spatial resolution to enable local and regional maritime spatial planning (MSP);
• Literature review of empirical studies to incorporate the effect of fishing pressure on benthic habitats per type of fishing gear;
• Participate in coupling the bio-economic spatial and agent based modelling tool to a state-of-the-art spatial fish population modelling framework concerning resource ocurrence.

The focus case study will be the Baltic and North Sea areas and the main modelling platform tool to be used and expanded will be DISPLACE (www.displace-project.org)

Qualifications
We are looking for a candidate who has:

• Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree in Aquatic Science & Technology or similar;
• Previous experience in marine and fisheries research, and population, fisheries and ecosystem dynamics;
• Proven experience and strong skills in modelling and  quantitative and statistical analyses;
• Proficiency in at least two programming languages among R and Matlab, C++, Python and GIS;
• Interests and preferences for agent based modelling;
• Knowledge on (fisheries) economics;
• Proficiency in written and spoken English;
• Keen interest in desk-only research and for working within the field of marine and aquatic sciences.

Approval and Enrolment
The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.
Assessment
The assessment of the applicants will be made by Sen. Sci. Francois Bastardie, Prof. J. Rasmus Nielsen, Sci. Grete Dinesen, and Sen. Sci. Ole R. Eigaard, DTU Aqua.

Salary and appointment terms
The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students at DTU.

The period of employment is 3 years.

Further information
For further information about the project, please contact Sen. Sci. Francois Bastardie, fba@aqua.dtu.dk

General information may be obtained from Christine Cecilie Hastrup chci@aqua.dtu.dk (+45) 3588 3001

Please do not send applications by e-mail, instead apply online as described below.

Application
Please submit your online application no later than 1 April 2017.

Applications must be submitted as one pdf file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link “Apply online,” fill in the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one pdf file. The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and excel spreadsheet here)
• Description of skills according to qualifications.

Candidates may apply prior to obtaining their master’s degree, but cannot begin before having received it.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

The purpose of DTU Aqua is to provide research, advice and education at the highest international level within the sustainable exploitation of living marine and freshwater resources, the biology of aquatic organisms and the dynamics of ecosystems as well as their integration in ecosystem-based management. DTU Aqua has 260 employees, of whom a third are scientific staff. The other employees are assistant biologists, laboratory technicians, IT employees, administrative staff, ship’s crew, student assistants etc. The institute is organized into eight scientific sections which carry out the research, educational and advisory activities. In addition, the institute has a number of scientific and administrative support functions, including the research vessel DANA. DTU Aqua has employees in Charlottenlund, Silkeborg, Nykøbing Mors and Hirtshals as well as on Dana.You can read more about DTU Aqua on www.aqua.dtu.dk

DTU is a technical university providing internationally leading research, education, innovation and scientific advice. Our staff of 5,800 advance science and technology to create innovative solutions that meet the demands of society; and our 10,600 students are being educated to address the technological challenges of the future. DTU is an independent academic university collaborating globally with business, industry, government, and public agencies.