Fellowship - Computer Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences and Computer Applications

Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación

Spain

Closing Date: Saturday, 15 March, 2014

Description

INTERNATIONAL PHD PROGRAM FELLOWSHIPS BSC_LA CAIXA

Since 1982, the “la Caixa” Foundation has offered several fellowship programmes aimed at allowing students to undertake postgraduate studies in Spain and abroad. Over the years, thousands of students have advanced their training thanks to “la Caixa” Foundation fellowship. In 2008, the “la Caixa” Foundation launched a new programme addressed to national and international students. As part of this programme, each year fellowships are awarded to students who wish to complete work toward their doctoral degrees.

BSC-CNS is at the service of the international scientific community and industry that require High Performance Computing resources. The multidisciplinary research team and the computational facilities –including MareNostrum – make BSC-CNS an international center of excellence in e-Science.

Under a collaborative Framework Agreement, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the “la Caixa” Foundation continue the fellowship programme started last year with a 2nd call. This programme aims to help the recruitment of talented students from across the world by doing their doctoral thesis work in one of the accredited “Severo Ochoa” centres of excellence. The objective of this joint activity is to boost the research capacity of the best research institutions in Spain. For this year, the “la Caixa” Foundation has selected the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) to offer four grants more for the academic year 2014-2015 addressed to PhD students. This grant is renewable up to four years.

BSC-CNS is looking for young scientists from the national and international community who wish to do their PhD in a stimulating environment, rich in technological resources and campus life. We encourage applications from highly motivated engineers and computer scientists with outstanding qualifications. Successful candidates will join research groups with top-level scientists and will carry out their research in cutting-edge areas of Computer Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences and Computer Applications in Sciences and Engineering.

PhD - Land change science

Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science

University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The deadline for applications is 14.02.2014

Description

The Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science at University of Copenhagen is offering a PhD scholarship in land change science commencing 01.05.2014 or as soon as possible thereafter.

 The position will contribute to the EU-FP7-funded project “Agroforestry that will advance rural development (AGFORWARD)”. The project offers unique opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation around agroforestry systems in Europe within a group of researchers from 27 partner institutions.

 The PhD project aims to analyze the driving forces of land-use change and their impacts on the provision of ecosystem services in various agroforestry systems in Europe. With space for pursuing individual interests, the PhD project will:

·         contribute to a synthesis of the existing knowledge on the drivers of land-use change in European agroforestry systems.

·         identify the causal chain of land-use dynamics in agroforestry systems by evaluating existing data from various sources.

·         analyze the impacts of these land-use changes on a set of ecosystem services at landscape scale.

Principal supervisor is Associate Professor Tobias Plieninger, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, E-mail: tobias.plieninger@ign.ku.dk, Direct Phone: (+45) 353 36782.

Your key tasks as a PhD student at Science are:

·         Performance of a research project, including fieldwork

·         Writing of scientific articles and a PhD thesis

·         Project coordination and management

·         Attendance of PhD courses and congresses

·         Teaching and dissemination of research

PostDoc - Glaciología en regiones polares

Grupo de Simulación Numérica en Ciencias e Ingeniería. UPM

Madrid, España

Fecha límite: 2 de febrero de 2014

Descripción

POSIBLES LÍNEAS DE TRABAJO (a seleccionar en función del perfil del candidato):

• Tratamiento y análisis de datos de sensores termométricos, de presión e inclinometría, instalados en perforaciones en glaciares antárticos. Aplicación a la caracterización de la dinámica glaciar.

• Acoplamiento de un modelo termomecánico de un glaciar terminado en mar con modelos regionales de circulación oceánica y de clima.

• Procesamiento iterativo de modelos digitales 3D de glaciar construidos a partir de datos topográficos y de georradar.

PhD - Mapping ecosystem service tradeoffs

The Mediterranean Institute for Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE, Aix-Marseille University)

Aix-en-Provence, France

Closing date: 31st of January 2014

Description

Research Group "Macroecology and Biogeography of Global Change (MacroBio)" has a 36-months PhD position open for applications. The position is funded by the European Commission through the FP7 Research Project OPERAs and affiliated to the French     National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS).

The topic is the broad-scale spatial mapping and quantification of ecosystem service trade-offs following from management of agro-ecosystems in the Mediterranean basin. The context of the

research includes the environment (climate, land use) as well as trends in societal demands for services. Based on scientific literature, spatial databases and the outputs from a process-based ecosystem model, the candidate will analyze, quantify and map ecosystem service trade-offs. Service valuation and indicator representation methods will be developed with the IMBE team. The approach is pan-Mediterranean: a significant part of the work will therefore consist of helping to reduce gaps in data and knowledge for the sum of countries around the Mediterranean basin.

The research group works in close interaction with international programs such as Future Earth (through its project ecoSERVICES) and science-policy interfaces such as IPBES.

PhD - Fellowships BSC - La Caixa

Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación

Barcelona, Spain

Deadline for applications: Thursday 28th February, 2014

Description

Since 1982, the “la Caixa” Foundation has offered several fellowship programmes aimed at allowing students to undertake postgraduate studies in Spain and abroad. Over the years, thousands of students have advanced their training thanks to “la Caixa” Foundation fellowship. In 2008, the “la Caixa” Foundation launched a new programme addressed to national and international students. As part of this programme, each year fellowships are awarded to students who wish to complete work toward their doctoral degrees. 

Under a collaborative Framework Agreement, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the “la Caixa” Foundation continue the fellowship programme started last year with a 2nd call. This programme aims to help the recruitment of talented students from across the world by doing their doctoral thesis work in one of the accredited “Severo Ochoa” centres of excellence. The objective of this joint activity is to boost the research capacity of the best research institutions in Spain. For this year, the “la Caixa” Foundation has selected the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) to offer four grants more for the academic year 2014-2015 addressed to PhD students. This grant is renewable up to four years. 

BSC-CNS is looking for young scientists from the national and international community who wish to do their PhD in a stimulating environment, rich in technological resources and campus life. We encourage applications from highly motivated engineers and computer scientists with outstanding qualifications. Successful candidates will join research groups with top-level scientists and will carry out their research in cutting-edge areas of Computer Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences and Computer Applications in Sciences and Engineering. 

PhD - Geoinformatics

University of St Andrews

United Kingdom

Deadline date: 31/03/2014

Description

Applications are invited for a research studentship in GeoInformatics, leading to the award of a PhD degree. The post is supported by a bursary and fees at the UK/EU student rate only. The studentship is for three years from September 2014.

PhD - Biogeochemical cycles in the Earth System

International Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Jena, Germany

Deadline date: 06/02/2014

Description

The IMPRS-gBGC located in Jena, Germany, offers fellowships to outstanding students interested in research on biogeochemical cycles in the Earth system. The school provides excellent research possibilities for students to obtain a PhD degree in a 3-years graduate program.

Successful applicants will be part of the International Max Planck Research School for Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Research at the school focuses on the distribution of elements essential to life and the climate among the components of the Earth system and the interaction between biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, land and oceans.

Besides doing research for their PhD project, PhD candidates also benefit from a three-month external research visit, specialized courses in e.g. statistics, Earth observation, modeling and analytical techniques, as well as in soft skills. The school is thus an excellent starting platform for a successful career in a field related to global biogeochemical cycles and Earth System Science.

Projects currently open for application:

• Understanding the shape of root water uptake profiles across biomes.
• Quantifying and scaling global plant trait diversity: how do environmental constraints and land-use affect the multivariate trait spectrum at global scale and how is this reflected in ecosystem fluxes of carbon, water and energy.
• The impact of soil microbial food web complexity on turnover of soil organic carbon.
• Merging organic and inorganic geochemical proxies in lake sediments.

PhD - Earth, environmental and resources science

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II

Naples, Italy

Description

Understanding and definition of both the static and evolutionary geological features is essential for any land and environment management. The PhD in “Earth, Environment and Resources Science” aims to train a researcher with specific and transverse ability to coordinate different activities for the land geological analysis and for studying the anthropic-environmental interactions tied to the static and dynamic attributes of the physical environment. This is especially valid for the complex land management in Naples and Campania, characterized by a high seismic, volcanic, geological and environmental risk (e.g., due to cultural and artistic heritage and pollution from waste).

Nr of positions available : 12.

PostDoc/PhD - Integrated climate, tectonics, and surface processes

University of Tübingen

Germany

Deadline date: 06/02/2014

Description

The Earth System Dynamics research group at the University of Tübingen, Germany, announces 4 PhD and 2 Postdoctoral positions associated with a new European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator project. The project is titled "EXTREME: EXtreme Tectonics and Rapid Erosion in Mountain Environments" and inves-tigates the interactions between paleoclimate, surface processes, and 3D subduction geometry at orogen syntaxes in the Himalaya, St. Elias Range (Alaska), Cascadia (Washington State), and Andes (Chile, Peru). Candidates with interests in one or more of the following 6 positions should apply:

1. Atmospheric general circulation modeling of paleoclimate during mountain topographic evolution.

2. 3D thermomechanical and surface process modeling of lithospheric deformation and erosion.

3-4. Cosmogenic nuclide determination of catchment erosion rates in the Cascadia and South American margins.

5-6. Fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronometer determination of exhumation in the Cascadia and South American margins.

The research team will work together to quantify the deformation and erosion history of the study areas and the atmospheric, erosional, and geodynamic controls on their evolution. State of the art facilities for thermo-chronology, cosmogenic isotopes, and high performance cluster computing are available for the project.

PhD - Isotope geo and cosmochemistry

The Isotope Geochemistry Group at the Department of Earth Sciences

ETH Zurich, Switzerland 

Description

The PhD project includes geochemical and isotopic investigations to evaluate the processes in the early solar system that led to the formation of the earth's moon. The projects will involve the development of new analytical techniques to set up novel stable isotope systems. The review of applications will begin on 15 November until the position is filled. The PhD position will be offered for 3 years with a possible 1 year extension, starting within the next 6 months.

The project is suitable for students with a background in geology, chemistry, physics, planetary sciences or equivalent experience. The student will be trained in cutting-edge analytical work (incl. clean room chemistry and multi-collector ICP-MS) carried out at the state-of-the-art geochemical facilities at the ETH Zurich. These techniques have numerous applications across the range of analytical sciences.

More information and applications

Faculty positions in meteorology

School of Meteorology

College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences

The University of Oklahoma, United States

Description

The School of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma invites applications for two tenure-track or tenured faculty positions at the Assistant or Associate Professor level to begin in the academic year 2014-2015. Through these hires, the School is seeking to broaden its areas of expertise and expand beyond its leadership role in weather research and advanced applications of radar measurements for atmospheric studies. While outstanding scholars will be considered in all areas of the atmospheric sciences and closely related disciplines, research expertise is particularly desired in the following areas: i) Cloud system research from microphysics to the role of clouds in weather and climate; ii) Satellite and radar remote sensing; iii) The intersection of weather and climate; iv) Development, evaluation and applications of coupled modeling systems.

The context for these hires is that the weather, water, climate, and radar engineering are the University of Oklahoma's highest priorities for strategic investment. The University has added more than $100 million in new facilities during the past several years and a new 35,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Radar Innovations Laboratory is currently under construction. In addition, the University was recently selected as home to the Department of the Interior's South Central Regional Climate Science Center. A major program of interdisciplinary study has also been initiated in the social, human, behavioral, and economic aspects of weather and climate in collaboration with the University's Center for Applied Social Research. The National Weather Center -- one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world -- houses the University's academic and research programs in meteorology, state organizations, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Norman-based weather research and operational programs. The School of Meteorology is an academic unit of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences with 25 faculty and nearly 100 graduate students.

Requirements

Applicants should have completed their PhD and demonstrated the ability to establish, lead and sustain a strong and vibrant research program in meteorology, atmospheric science or a closely related field. Applicants also should have a commitment to teaching excellence at the undergraduate and graduate levels plus a strong desire to participate in service to the School, University, and atmospheric science community.

More information and applications

PostDoc - Biogeochemistry and salinity remote sensing

Institut Pierre Simon Laplace

Laboratoire d' Oceanographie et du Climate

Paris, France

Description

The Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat - Expérimentation et Approches Numériques (LOCEAN)/ Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) invites applications for a 15 months, possibly renewable, postdoctoral position. The position is opened in the frame of the EU FP7 Carbochange (carbochange.b.uib.no) and of the European Space Agency SMOS+SOS (www.smos-sos.org) projects. The successful candidate will join a LOCEAN team which has a lead expertise in salinity remote sensing and air-sea CO2 fluxes. The research project aims at demonstrating the contribution of new satellite sea surface salinity, SSS, to other existing remotely sensed products (sea surface temperature, ocean colour, altimetry) for improving regional air-sea CO2 fluxes estimates.

The SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission launched in november 2009 has demonstrated the capability of the satellite L-band radiometry to sense SSS. Almost 4 years of SMOS SSS data are now available. The Aquarius satellite mission delivers SSS since more than 2 years. At 10 days-100x100km2 scale, the precision of the SMOS and Aquarius SSS is on the order of 0.2-0.3 in tropical and subtropical regions.

The estimate of the air-sea CO2 flux at regional scale, based on in situ measurements, is challenging due to the sparse measurements of the CO2 partial pressure at the ocean surface, pCO2. Hence the reliability of the estimated fluxes strongly relies on the methods used to extrapolate the in-situ pCO2 measurements. Satellite sea surface temperature and chlorophyll have been widely used in the past in such methods, as they contain information about physical and biological processes driving pCO2 variability. On another hand, several studies have shown that SSS brings complementary information, that could, in particular, help to understand and identify the processes which control the pCO2 signatures associated with various water masses and biogeochemical provinces. In this project, we propose to use the satellite SSS data, in conjunction with in situ pCO2 (in particular but not exclusively the ones available in the SOCAT data base), in regions well and accurately sampled by SMOS and by ship pCO2, for 1) interpreting the observed pCO2 variability, 2) developing new methodology for extrapolating pCO2 and 3) demonstrating the potential of new satellite SSS at improving air-sea CO2 flux estimates at regional scale.

Requirements 

Applicants should have a background in ocean biogeochemistry, and preferentially in ocean remote sensing. They should have significant experience in data processing.

More information and applications

PhD - Paleoceanography

University of Bremen

Germany

Deadline for the application: December 31, 2013.

Description

The Research Center/Cluster of Excellence “The Ocean in the Earth System” (MARUM) at the University of Bremen, Germany, has the overarching scientific goal to achieve a better understanding of key processes in the marine environment. The research themes are: Ocean and Climate, Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions and Sediment Dynamics.

MARUM is offering a PhD position in the field of paleoceanography. We are searching for highly motivated applicants with a strong background in stable isotope geochemistry and/or ocean modeling for a project with the topic: Deglacial changes in deep Atlantic stratification.

The aim of this project is to model changes in the Atlantic deep-water circulation during the last deglaciation with isotope-enabled models and to compare the results to foraminiferal stable isotope data. The study is directed towards a better understanding of interactions between water mass changes and the meridional overturning circulation of the Atlantic Ocean.

Requirements

Applicants should hold a M.Sc. or Diploma in Physics, Physical Oceanography, Geosciences or a related subject. Furthermore, they should have a strong interest in Quaternary paleoceanography. Excellent English speaking and writing skills are a prerequisite. Experience in scientific data analysis and programming is desirable.

More information and applications

PostDoc - Cenozoic climatic and environmental change

University of California

United States

Deadline date: 16/12/2013

Description

The Department of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, invites applications for a faculty position in High Resolution Records of Cenozoic Climatic and Environmental Change (broadly defined) at the Assistant Professor level, available from July 1, 2014. The successful candidate for this tenure track Assistant Professorship will lead an independent, strong, and innovative program exploring records of past climate change and their cause-and-effect relationships with the co-evolution of life and the environment. The focus will be on understanding the drivers and manifestations of global climate change from the perspective of better understanding Earth’s climatic history through the Cenozoic Era and its value as a window to the processes and impacts of ongoing and future climate trends. 

Requirements

The candidate should prioritize the documentation and interpretation of novel past climatic records, and the desired expertise includes, but is not limited to, a geochemist/climatologist who studies high-resolution records of Cenozoic climate change spanning time scales from decades up to tens of millions of years, including archives on land, lakes and/or in the ocean. The successful candidate will become fully engaged in the teaching mission of the department and the college. This will include undergraduate and graduate courses in the area of specialty. A Ph.D. in a relevant field and a proven ability to conduct innovative research are required. 

More information and applications

PostDoc - Biogeochemical climate modeling

University of California

United States

Deadline date: 16/12/2013

Description

The Department of Earth Sciences invites applications at the Assistant, Associate and Full Professor levels in the field of biogeochemical modeling. The successful candidate will lead an independent and innovative research program exploring the interactions and feedbacks among physical and biogeochemical processes under past, present, and future climates. Applicants should have demonstrated skills in numerical approaches/modeling working in terrestrial, marine, or non-marine aquatic environments. All time scales of interest and model approaches are welcome, but those working with or prioritizing questions relevant on global scales and lying in deep time are particularly encouraged to apply.

Requirements

A successful candidate must also have a strong commitment to excellence in education and will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate courses related to the area of specialty.

A Ph.D. in a related field and a proven ability to conduct innovative research are required. 

More information and applications

PostDoc - Lectureships in geoInformatics

University of St Andrews

United Kingdom

Closing date: January 17th 2014

Description

Researchers in the Centre for GeoInformatics in the School of Geography and Geosciences at the University of St Andrews have been selected for a prestigious award under the Q-Step Quantitative Methods Programme funded by a combination of the Nuffield Foundation and the ESRC. This programme will employ two new lecturers: in GeoInformatics, specialisation Remote Sensing (post A) and in Spatio-temporal analysis, specialization Spatial statistics (post B) to add substantial new courses to our existing undergraduate curriculum and help deliver a new MSc in GeoInformatics. The successful candidates will also contribute to the successful development of the Centre for GeoInformatics; to seek external funding for research and to engage in the recruitment and supervision of research postgraduates; to contribute effectively to the intellectual environment of the School; to engage in internationally recognized, peer-reviewed publication of original research; and to work closely with Professor Stewart Fotheringham and other CGI members.  

More information and applications

PhD / Contrato predoctoral - Reducción de emisiones, captura de CO2

Instituto Nacional del Carbón (INCAR-CSIC)

Oviedo, España

Descripción

Se buscan ingenieros interesados en solicitar contrato predoctoral en la convocatoria FPU 2013. La tesis se desarrollaría en el grupo de Procesos Energéticos y Reducción de Emisiones de INCAR-CSIC en la temática de captura de CO2 (www.incar.csic.es/prem).

Requisitos

El candidato seleccionado deberá cumplir los requisitos de titulación y nota media establecidos en la convocatoria: http://www.mecd.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano-mecd/catalogo-servicios/becas-ayudas-subvenciones/para-profesores/universitarios/fpu.html

Más información y solicitudes

PhD - Polarimetric SAR images for fuel moisture mapping

University of New Brunswick, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management

Canada

Description

Funded Ph.D. position for working on the use of polarimetric SAR images for fuel moisture mapping

We are seeking a highly motivated Ph.D. student who will work on calibrating a physics-based model to map the drought code of the Canadian Fire Weather Index from polarimetric SAR images. The model follows the method of Jagdhuber et al. 2011. (Proc. 5th Int. Workshop PolInSAR 2011, Frascati, Italy). The Ph.D. thesis will be based on data acquired over Canadian/South African natural grasslands, Alaska boreal forests and Canadian tundras.

The Ph.D. work will be supervised by Prof. Brigitte Leblon, (University of New Brunswick, Canada), Prof. Joseph Buckley (Royal Military College, Canada), Dr. Thomas Jagdhuber (DLR, Germany) and Dr. Laura Bourgeau-Chavez (Michigan Tech Research Institute, USA). Thereby, the hired student will be invited to travel among the various laboratories during his Ph.D. thesis. The study is a part of research project recently funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

Requirements

Preference will be given to Canadian, US or European students because the candidate will be invited to do some thesis work at DLR (Germany) and MTRI (USA), but international students are encouraged to apply.

Applicants should have successfully completed an MSc and have a strong background in radar remote sensing, strong interest in computer coding, with interest in fire sciences.

It is critical the applicant has some ability to program computer code to facilitate data analysis, model development and implementation as well as good writing and oral skills. 

More information and applications

PhD - Isotope geo and cosmochemistry

Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland

Application deadline: 11/12/2013

Description

The Isotope Geochemistry Group at the Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland seeks a highly motivated PhD Student in Isotope Geo and Cosmochemistry.

The PhD project includes geochemical and isotopic investigations to evaluate the processes in the early solar system that led to the formation of the earth's moon. The projects will involve the development of new analytical techniques to set up novel stable isotope systems. The review of applications will begin on 15 November until the position is filled. The PhD position will be offered for 3 years with a possible 1 year extension, starting within the next 6 months.

Requirements / features

The project is suitable for students with a background in geology, chemistry, physics, planetary sciences or equivalent experience. The student will be trained in cutting-edge analytical work (incl. clean room chemistry and multi-collector ICP-MS) carried out at the state-of-the-art geochemical facilities at the ETH Zurich. These techniques have numerous applications across the range of analytical sciences.

More information and applications

Contract - Scientist for atmospheric dispersion processes

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Description

SEPA is Scotland's principal environmental regulator. But we do much more than solely regulate. Our overall aim is to protect our environment and human health, and contribute to sustainable economic growth. The scope of our responsibilities is extremely broad; including problem-solving, environmental improvement, addressing climate change, sampling and monitoring, reporting on the state of our environment, advising on environmental issues, protecting citizens and communities from environmental harms, publishing environmental data and information, raising environmental awareness, preparing for future environmental issues, encouraging positive environmental action, and regulation. In order to meet these responsibilities we employ a diverse workforce across our offices situated throughout Scotland.

Providing advice on the modelling and monitoring of atmospheric dispersion processes, you'll play a key role in SEPA's mission to protect the Scottish environment for generations to come. Focussing particularly on improving Air Quality information to the public, you'll consider physical processes as well as elements of atmospheric chemistry.

Requirements

We'll expect you to work with colleagues to proactively develop tools, methods, documentation and procedures to ensure even better results. SEPA receives modelling and monitoring reports in support of applications to discharge waste to atmosphere. You'll comprehensively assess those reports - from the scientific methods used through to key assumptions and risks.

Whether writing reports, delivering presentations or influencing change, you'll need to demonstrate excellent communication skills and innovative thought. Ideally qualified to postgraduate level in a relevant subject, your knowledge spans meteorological processes and instrumentation, key concepts in atmospheric chemistry, computer programming, data analysis and visualisation and methods for assessing waste discharge to air. The ability to apply analytical and numerical models and process data to achieve practical outcomes within these fields is essential. 

More information and applications