# PhD in AI for Water Desalination, recycling and purification

Published

July 29, 2022

### Short Description

Are you fascinated by how clean water and sanitation can be provided to citizens in an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way? Are you eager to work on developing advanced technology for optimizing the decisions to manage clean water production systems? Are you passionate about creating scientific breakthroughs in artificial intelligence for managing scarce water supplies?

Then you might be our next PhD who will develop artificial intelligence systems to support the complex operational decisions needed to improve water desalination, recycling, and purification processes.

Water Desalination is an expensive activity

### Job Description

Clean water and sanitation is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations. Reaching these goals in an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable way requires optimization and balancing of multiple decisions in a complex setting. For example, the recent trend to use renewable energy sources for desalination and wastewater treatment makes the decision process more complicated, due to the temporal variability of these sources. To deal with this complexity, AI systems that go beyond the current point solutions are needed, while also considering the broader perspective and a balanced interaction between the computerized systems and human experts, providing them with understandable explanations on the inner working of the AI system. The scientific challenge of this PhD project is to develop hybrid AI solutions that combine advanced prediction methods (e.g. deep learning algorithms), multi-objective optimization and adaptive models with explainable AI decision-making methods from computational intelligence to realize such a balance. As the PhD working on this challenge, you will become part of the Computational Intelligence for Decision Support Lab at JADS and will collaborate with other PhDs working Data Analytics Unit. You will also contribute to the Trustworthy AI-based Systems for Sustainable Growth Lab (ILUSTRE) in which this project is embedded. In this diverse, inclusive, and interdisciplinary environment, you are expected to collaborate closely with our social and industrial partners from the Netherlands and Curaçao.

### Job Requirements

- A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) in artificial intelligence, data science, computer science or an equivalent quantitative field.
- A research-oriented attitude.
- Ability to work in a team while also taking a pro-active attitude to drive your own research in collaboration with industrial partners and other stakeholders.
- Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level).

### Conditions of Employment

Being appointed at JADS provides a meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious community of two universities and startups.

As a PhD Student at JADS you will have a full-time employment for a total of four years, with an intermediate evaluation after nine months. JADS offers excellent employment conditions with attention to flexibility and (personal) development and attractive fringe benefits. The gross monthly salary is in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities. You are entitled to a vacation allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your gross annual income. If you work 40 hours per week, you will receive 41 paid days of leave per year. PhD Students from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance of 30% of their taxable salary if they meet the relevant conditions. The university applies for this allowance on their behalf. JADS will provide assistance in finding suitable accommodation.

To develop your teaching skills, you will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks. To support you during your PhD and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will make a Training and Supervision plan and you will have free access to a personal development program for PhD students.

Next to that we offer all kinds of facilities and arrangements to maintain an optimal balance between work and private life. All employees of the university are covered by the so-called General Pension Fund for Public Employers (Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP).

JADS values an open and inclusive culture. We embrace diversity and encourage the mutual integration of groups of employees and students. We focus on creating equal opportunities for all our employees and students so that everyone feels at home in our university community.

All researchers working in JADS have contracts at either Tilburg University or Eindhoven University of Technology. Please visit Working at Tilburg University and Working at Eindhoven University of Technology for more information on their respective employment conditions.

### More Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact Prof. Dr. Rr. U. Kaymak or call. For information about terms of employment, please contact Marielle van Gerven, HR Advisor or call

### Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the ‘apply now’-button on this page. The application should include a:

- Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
- Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references.
- Brief description of your MSc thesis.

We look forward to your application and will screen it as soon as we have received it. Screening will continue until the position has been filled.