Vacancy title:
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow: Urban Fire Risk Modelling for the Tomorrow’s Cities’ Nairobi Urban disaster Risk Hub
Jobs at:
African Centre for Technology StudiesDeadline of this Job:
07 February 2020
Summary
Date Posted: Thursday, February 06, 2020 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed
JOB DETAILS:
Our Vision Knowledge for better livelihoods. Our Mission To strengthen the capacity and policies of African countries and institutions to harness science, technology and innovation for sustainable development. Our Value Proposition To conduct high quality research, policy analysis, capacity strengthening and outreach on applications of science, technology and innovation policies to sustainable development in Africa To facilitate and convene evidence based policy dialogue and debate To inform development policy and practice To put critical issues of science, technology innovation on the Development Agenda To provide independent and objective policy advice to African governments and agencies, regional economic communities and institutions, private sector, civil society and community actors and agencies. .
Main Responsibilities
Research
• Develop a quantifiable fire risk map of Mukuru through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spatial metrics, and fire science. This will require an approximately 1-month research trip to the University of Edinburgh within the first few months of the research.
• Map historic fire events in Mukuru and other Nairobi slums as appropriate GIS/Google Earth/Satellite Imagery and other appropriate datasets as necessary, in support of the point above.
• Collect secondary fire data and impact for modelling and mapping across the city from organizations including Kenyan Red Cross, SDI/CURI/KDI, and Newspaper articles, and any other sources.
• Carry out field visits for data collection, verification of facts and ground truthing.
• Link fire risk maps with socio-economic and demographic profiles (WP 1) and vulnerability profiles (WP 2) to assess risk and map risk profiles.
• To provide better quality descriptions of the typologies and construction materials of the homes within the Mukuru and other Nairobi slums.
• Carry out calibration, validation and sensitivity analyses of the model(s) created and report on the relative merits of these analyses.
• Analyze fire statistics provided from Nairobi City County contacts and other sources to provide initial analysis of frequentist fire data, and working with other Hub researchers, support the analysis of gender/intersectionality risk issues at the settlement (Mukuru) and city level.
• Present data and meta-data for internal and external dissemination, working closely with other physical hazards modelers within the Hub to ensure data compatibility, for both inventory purposes, and for multi-hazard risk and resilience identification/assessment purposes.
Perform a high-level desktop assessment of fire regulations and design guidance used in Nairobi in cooperation with other stakeholders across the city Hub, and an assessment of the dichotomy between policy and practice..
Skills and competences
• Excellent interpersonal, management and communication skills, with proven ability to support narratives to describe results.
• A team player with ability to build strong working relationships, and experience working across different disciplines and with different stakeholders.
• Ability to work under limited supervision, produce regular internal progress reports and meet deadlines
• Strong technical writing skills and the ability to engage with literatures from the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Ability to write effectively and report to different audiences.
• Ability to manage own time effectively to deliver to tight deadlines and to work on a wide range of different demands.
Skills and competences
• Excellent interpersonal, management and communication skills, with proven ability to support narratives to describe results.
• A team player with ability to build strong working relationships, and experience working across different disciplines and with different stakeholders.
• Ability to work under limited supervision, produce regular internal progress reports and meet deadlines
• Strong technical writing skills and the ability to engage with literatures from the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Ability to write effectively and report to different audiences.
• Ability to manage own time effectively to deliver to tight deadlines and to work on a wide range of different demands.
Qualifications
• The candidate should possess a PhD in relevant fields such as Disaster Management, Urban Geography, Fire Science, Sustainability Studies or other relevant field.
• Experience in applied research and the identification of uncertainties within that
• A good record of academic publications.
• Evidence of urban mapping, statistical analysis, and handling of large datasets is desirable.
• A good record of academic publications - excellent academic writing skills, data base expertise, and familiarity with policy briefs.
• Experience or ability to develop participatory risk maps.
• Ability to transfer localized models to other areas with relative ease..
Job Education Requirements: Not Specified
Job Experience Requirements: Not Specified
Work Hours: 8
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Job application procedure
To apply: Please send
• Updated CV of not more than 5 (five) pages including 3 (three) relevant referees and a list of publications
• A one-page motivational letter
Application letters should have the title of the position as the subject of email, to be sent to hr@acts-net.org with a copy to j.atela@acts-net.org .
Please note the application deadline for this position is 7th Feb 2020.
click here to apply
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