PhD position in “Water Footprint Assessment and Water Credit Design in Egypt’s Horticulture

The Challenge

Egypt's horticulture sector operates under growing pressure from limited water availability, salinity, and rising competition over finite water resources. At the same time, the sector is economically important for food security, rural livelihoods, and export earnings, which means that improving water productivity is not only an environmental protection measure but also a strategic development and trade challenge.

These pressures call for better evidence on current and future water use, stronger metrics for identifying good performance, and more robust ways to link farm-level improvements to wider policy and investment decisions. They also raise questions about how private-sector actors can support and scale water-smart change, including through credible incentive and financing mechanisms.

The position

You will join the Water Footprint in Action programme, a multi-partner initiative funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and focused on advancing water-smart agriculture in Egypt's horticulture sector. The programme brings together three complementary lines of work: building a strong scientific and evidence base, strengthening advisory and knowledge systems, and supporting business innovation and investment in water-smart solutions. Within this wider setting, your PhD work will mainly sit in the research and knowledge component, while also helping connect scientific insights to shared knowledge resources, decision-support tools, stakeholder learning, and new financing approaches.

A preliminary research plan looks as follows.

First, you will develop and apply quantitative approaches to analyse the present and future water consumption (i.e., the water footprint) of Egypt's horticulture sector. This includes crop modelling using our in-house ACEA model, designing climate and socio-economic scenarios, and linking analyses across scales to local intervention settings, national policy priorities, and trade dynamics.

Next, you will work on water footprint benchmarks and performance indicators. In this part of the PhD, you will compare different ways of defining good performance, for example by looking at producer performance based on Best Available Technology and Best Available Practice, and relate these to broader sustainability and efficiency indicators.

A third part of your research will focus on how water savings and other water-smart improvements can be measured in a way that is credible, transparent, and useful in practice. You will help develop a science-based method that can underpin incentive or finance mechanisms for improved water performance, working closely with project partners and engaging with wider debates around environmental credits and integrity.

You will be embedded in an international consortium and work closely with partners in the Netherlands and Egypt, including Egyptian water and agricultural research centres. The position includes intensive interaction with stakeholders, frequent visits to project locations and case-study sites in Egypt, and an active role in a broader knowledge exchange programme through joint research, data exchange, publications, and learning activities.

• You have a Master's degree in a relevant field, such as water management, agricultural systems, or environmental science.
• You have a strong quantitative profile, including experience with data analysis, modelling, programming, or computational research methods.
• You are conceptually strong and able to translate complex sustainability questions into rigorous research designs, including scenario development and method design.
• You are interested in water footprint assessment, water-smart agriculture, benchmarking, sustainability metrics, and environmental crediting approaches.
• You enjoy collaborating with international academic and practice partners and can work effectively in a multi-stakeholder environment.
• You exhibit high levels of self-motivated and have strong communication skills.
• You are willing to travel and conduct regular project visits in Egypt in connection with research activities, partner collaboration, and case studies.
• You are motivated to contribute both to high-quality academic research and to applied impact in an international, policy-relevant project setting.
• Arabic language skills are a strong asset; being an Arabic speaker and having experience in the Egyptian context is beneficial.
• You are available to start the position per 1 January 2027.

• We offer a full-time 4-year…