Courses

Integration of all aspects of flood risk is the cornerstone of the FLOODRisk master. The first semester (in Germany) offers a basic grounding to all students. This is followed by a semester at IHE Delft introducing the hydroinformatics and modelling components and a semester in Spain and Slovenia following more specialised modules. The final semester is given over to a research thesis.

Semester 1: TU Dresden, Germany

Year 1 September - February

Name of course (ECTS)

Compulsory modules:

1. Climatology and Hydrology (5)

2. Flood Risk Management (10)

Elective module set 1 (choose at least one module)

3. Ecology (5)

4. Soils (5)

5. Hydrochemistry (5)

Elective module set 2 (choose at least one module)

6 Geodesy (5)

7 Hydraulic Engineering (5)

8 Hydromechanics (5)

Other courses: Fieldtrip, GIS and statistics (preparatory course)

Total ECTS 30

Note: Students take different courses depending on whether they have an engineering (E) or non-engineering (NE) background.

Semester 2: IHE Delft, The Netherlands

Year 1 March - July

Name of course (ECTS)

1. Flood Risk Management (5)

2. Decision Support Systems in the Water Domain (5)

3. Fieldtrip and groupwork (6.5)

4. Flood modelling (7.5)

5. Artificial intelligence for water systems (5)

6. Transferable skills (1)

Total ECTS 30

Note:In Semester 2 courses are given in 3-week modules, with an examination week after each second module.

Semester 3a: Technical University of Catalonia, Spain

Year 2 September - November

Name of course (ECTS)

1. Implication of Global warming on Floods and Droughts (3)

2. Coastal flooding: impacts, conflicts and risks (3)

3. Debris Flow and Flash Flood: Risk, Hazard, Vulnerability and Resilience concepts (5)

4. Radar rainfall forecast, early warning systems (4)

5. Fluvial morphodynamics (5)

Total ECTS 20

Semester 3b: University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

Year 2 December - February

Name of course (ECTS)

1. Spatial planning for flood protection (5)

2. Socioeconomical assessment of flood protection (5)

Total ECTS 10

Semester 4: Thesis project
(Example topics given from 2015)

Year 2 March - August

Name of course (ECTS)

1. Designing a flood-resilient city to deal with extreme rainfall (IHE Delft and Municipality of Dordrecht)

2. ANN Models in the Predictive Control of Reservoir Systems (IHE Delft and Deltares)

3. Analyses of trends and changing patterns of global precipitation based on chosen public domain data sets

(TU Dresden)

4. Flood risk assessment and modelling uncertainty relations using data-driven models

(TU of Catalonia and TNC Colombia)

5. Flood impacts on property values and proposal of measures to enhance flood safety

(University of Ljubljana)

6. From vision to reality: making cities flood resilient by implementing green infrastructure strategies (the case of the City of Hoboken, New Jersey)

(IHE Delft and Royal Haskoning DHV)

Total ECTS 30

Note: Students undertake a research project in association with one of the four universities and possibly external partners

Learning Objectives

The learning objectives (acquisition of knowledge) for the students include:

a broad and cross-boundary scientific knowledge on flood risk management;
a comprehensive knowledge base and understanding of the current theory and practice relating to flooding and flood management;
the fundamental knowledge leading to the understanding of socio-economic issue related to flooding;
a broad scientific knowledge about conservation, restoration and management measures to overcome challenges imposed on water by humans and by climate change, and;
an extended knowledge on a basin-wide approach to flood risk management.

The acquired competencies (application of knowledge) include the ability to:

analyse the reciprocal relationships between the physical system, the institutional framework and the socio-economic environment, identifying future social and climatic pressures and needs and the consequent trends in system management;
apply specific practical skills, such as identifying the major physical processes in a given river basin or coastal zone and their interaction with the associated assets and receptors;
identify the links between all issues related to flooding in order to apply an integrated approach using the best tools to support decision making for the sustainable management of floods;
review scientific literature and carry out independent research (such as writing a state of the art paper based on research and practice literature);
apply sophisticated hydroinformatics and modelling tools and best practices to address the problems of flood risk management;
occupy an independent and responsible position as a flood risk professional;
communicate his/her knowledge and research results to the scientific and non-scientific communities (such as presenting papers/posters to scientific congresses, general lectures to policy makers and interested non-specialists);
acquire independently further knowledge and techniques, and
operate in a team.