Context And Mission

The Department of Earth Sciences of the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), BSC-ES henceforth (bsc.es/earth-sciences) is one of the most active groups in air quality and atmospheric composition modeling, climate prediction and climate services in Europe. The Department comprises about 160 people, including scientists and technical staff. It is structured into five distinct but interacting research groups: Atmospheric Composition, Climate Prediction, Earth System Services (ESS), Global Health Resilience, and Computational Earth Sciences.

The candidate will work in the ESS group. The ESS group develops climate and air quality services, facilitating knowledge and technology transfer of state-of-the-art research at local, national, and international levels. The main purpose is to demonstrate the ongoing value of climate prediction services, atmospheric composition, and weather forecasting to society and key sectors of the economy, such as renewable energy, urban development, infrastructure, transport, insurance, health, and agriculture.

The group hosts air quality and climate researchers, research engineers, physicists, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, and communication experts who work to bring the latest developments in earth sciences to society. ESS has an interdisciplinary approach with several lines of expertise working together and collaborating with the other research groups within the Earth Sciences Department.

Cutting-edge operational forecast services on climate, air quality, and airborne dust are created by ESS via collaboration with public administration, from our involvement as leaders in multinational partnerships, as well as through private contracts with companies willing to exploit the opportunities that arise from disposing of information on future climate and air quality. Close collaboration with stakeholders pioneering the application of this knowledge in their operative decisions is essential to foster adaptation to climate change and move towards a more resilient and sustainable society.

The ESS is looking for a postdoc in atmospheric composition modeling willing to do research and provide user-tailored products for different air quality-related projects. Successful candidates will benefit from a training program and staff benefits. BSC-CNS will provide all necessary tools for developing the candidate’s potential, deepening their skills and knowledge in a stimulating, international and interdisciplinary environment to boost their career perspectives as successful independent researchers. We encourage applications from highly motivated physicists, engineers, and mathematicians (and related disciplines) with outstanding qualifications.

Key Duties

Implementation, execution and monitoring of atmospheric numerical models in a High-Performance Computing environment.
Analyse and evaluate model results against observations, prepare charts and reports of the results.
Perform innovative user-oriented research, facilitating technology and knowledge transfer.
Apply cutting-edge machine learning techniques to air quality data from a user-centered perspective
Communicate scientific results within the Department, in international conferences and write quality papers in scientific publications.
Involvement in the preparation of competitive grants and projects.


Requirements

Education
PhD in Environmental Engineering or related disciplines.

Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
Experience in air quality and meteorological models (e.g., CMAQ, WRF) and related analysis software.
Ability to work in a professional environment and within a multidisciplinary research team.
Demonstrated verbal communication and technical presentation skills (English is a must).
Experience in statistical methods and previous skills in R and/or Python

Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
Computing skills in low-level computer languages (especially FORTRAN 90) and experience with UNIX/LINUX environments.
Experience in data formats (NetCDF) and tools used in Earth sciences.
Experience in air quality planning and emission scenarios will be valued.
Willing to travel.

Competences
Fluency in English.
Fluency in other European languages will be also valued.


Conditions

The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
Starting date: asap