PhD position: The water footprint of European food: Towards water-efficient and resilient food production and consumption patterns
Would you like to contribute to a more water-resilient European food system? Consider applying for our latest PhD position, in which you will develop methods and data to measure and reduce Europe’s water foodprint.
Agriculture is responsible for more than 90% of global freshwater consumption and the main driver of overexploitation of finite and vulnerable freshwater resources in many parts of the world. With the demand for food growing, geopolitical dynamics affecting food trade patterns, and climate change influencing the water cycle, it is imperative to make most of every drop while building resilience in the face of shocks and scarcity. In response, Europe strives to improve water efficiency and resilience of its food systems, both on the production and the consumption side (including imports). A major limiting factor, however, is that we do not sufficiently understand how much water is consumed in the production of food and other agricultural products. And once such water footprint accounts are available, how can European and national policy makers address inefficiencies, boost resilience, and mitigate water stress--both within Europe and in countries from which it imports its food?
The position
As part of a collaborative doctoral partnership between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the University of Twente (UT), this PhD position will bridge academic excellence with policy relevance to enhance the sustainability of water use of European consumption of food and other agricultural products within Europe and along global supply chains.
In the first two years, you will be positioned at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands and get introduced into the PhD trajectory and scientific working. You will alongside the developers of UT’s global crop water model ACEA (Mialyk et al. 2024) and improve the model’s ability to provide recurring updates of global crop water footprint accounts and automize key routines. Based on the resulting accounts, you will calculate water footprints of crop-derived products, such as food stuffs, bio-based materials, and bioenergy. Following the calculation of volumetric footprints of global food production, local consequences of water use need to be analysed. For this purpose, you will apply and enhance methods from both Water Footprint Assessment and Life Cycle Assessment perspectives (Berger et al. 2025). This may include developing approaches for matching the spatial and temporal resolution of LCA databases and impact assessment models or explore new ways to assess the impact of green water consumption.
You will spend the second part of the PhD trajectory (years 3 and 4) at the JRC in Ispra, Italy, where you will refine and test your models and methods in case studies of relevance for policy support. You will align your results and proposed methods with the European Commission’s Environmental Footprint and contribute to its continuous development and update. You will also get the chance to simulate and analyse alternative agricultural and food production scenarios in support of the transition to healthy and sustainable diets according to the most recent policy needs and developments.
Information and application
For additional information regarding this position, you can contact prof.dr.ir. Markus Berger, email m.berger@utwente.nl.
Please apply through the button below before November 14th by uploading:
- a motivation letter (not more than 1 page)
- your CV (max 2 pages)
- a writing sample (max 1 page e.g., an abstract of a publication or a summary of your master’s thesis)
- relevant certificates (master degree, transcript of records, etc.)
The first (online) job interview will take place in the end of November. A second interview will be held with supervisors from the University of Twente and the JRC in December.
About the organisation
The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) engages in education and research of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. We enable society and industry to innovate and create value using efficient, solid and sustainable technology. We are part of a ‘people-first' university of technology, taking our place as an internationally leading center for smart production, processes and devices in five domains: Health Technology, Maintenance, Smart Regions, Smart Industry and Sustainable Resources. Our faculty is home to about 2,900 Bachelor's and Master's students, 550 employees and 150 PhD candidates. Our educational and research programmes are closely connected with UT research institutes Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Center and Digital Society Institute.
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