Project description
Quantitative prediction tool to optimise design of breakwaters
Coastal erosion poses a global threat to people, economies, and ecosystems, including seagrass meadows. In Europe, the presence of coastal defence structures, such as low-crested structures (LCS), can modify water and sediment flow, potentially harming seagrasses. Incorporating ecological impact criteria into their design is a challenging task that requires a careful consideration of potential harm. The MSCA-funded SEGRALCS project aims to develop a quantitative prediction tool designed to assist civil engineers and decision-makers in optimising the design of breakwaters. Additionally, it will reduce uncertainty related to the environmental performance of breakwaters, ultimately contributing to the conservation and preservation of seagrasses throughout their lifetime. The project's focus will be on two seagrass species found in the Mediterranean Sea, namely Cymodocea nodosa and Posidonia oceanica.
Objective
Coastal erosion is one of the major global threats to people, the economy, cultural assets and ecosystems in many regions of the world and also in Europe. Valuable coastal ecosystems, such as seagrass meadows, are particularly threatened by these erosion problems and effective protection measures for their conservation are urgently needed. Low-crested structures (LCS) are the typical coastal defence in Europe, with a design mainly based on their hydrodynamic and morphodynamic behaviour and little attention is usually paid to the ecological consequences of their construction. The construction of breakwaters can affect seagrasses by altering the circulation and sediment transport to the adjacent habitat, but fragmented and scientific-based criteria are difficult to manage in present engineering design and therefore ecological impacts are often not taken into account. Within this research project, the creation of a new quantitative prediction tool will be investigated to allow civil engineers and decision-makers to optimize the design of breakwaters and reduce the uncertainty related to their environmental performance, contributing to the preservation and conservation of seagrasses during the lifetime of breakwaters. In particular, the project will focus on the Mediterranean Sea to ensure the persistence of two characteristics seagrass species, Cymodocea nodosa and the most important endemic and slow-recovery Posidonia oceanica. The fellowship will be carried out at the Universitat Politcnica de Valencia (UPV), in Spain, under the supervision of Professor Josep R. Medina, international expert in maritime and coastal engineering, in collaboration with Dr. Nuria Marb, internationally renowned researcher on marine and seagrass ecology at the Instituto Mediterrneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA). A placement is planned at the engineering consultancy INGEOMAR to put into practice and refine the predictive model, boosting its integration in coastal protection proyects.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
- natural sciences biological sciences marine biology
- engineering and technology civil engineering water engineering coastal and estuarine hydraulics
- engineering and technology civil engineering structural engineering hydraulic engineering
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems coastal ecosystems
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
46022 VALENCIA
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.