Context And Mission
The Climate Services (CS) Team within the Earth System Services (ESS) Group is seeking a climate scientist to work on the development of sub-seasonal, seasonal and decadal climate service products for health, with a focus on the statistical downscaling of climate information at sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales.
The mission of the CS Team is to apply state-of-the-art scientific climate knowledge for the co-development of actionable climate information and solutions relevant for key societal sectors (e.g. agriculture, renewable energy, health) in their adaptation to climate change. The CS Team is part of the Earth System Services Group (ESS) within the Earth Sciences (ES) Department, whose mission is to research the impact of weather, atmospheric chemistry and climate upon socio-economic sectors, including renewable energy, agriculture, water management, forest fires, urban development and health and demonstrate the ongoing value of earth system services to society and the economy.
The selected candidate will be involved in different EU projects, national and international initiatives in collaboration with the ES Department’s Global Health Resilience (GHR) group, led by ICREA Professor Rachel Lowe. The mission of the GHR group is to apply a transdisciplinary approach to co-designing policy-relevant decision-support tools to enhance surveillance, preparedness, and response to global health challenges, with a focus on climate-sensitive infectious diseases. Together, the CS Team and GHR group co-develop impact-based forecasting models at sub-seasonal to decadal timescales in collaboration with public health, disaster risk management, and humanitarian agencies. The successful applicant will participate in different projects operating in Europe, Asia, and the Latin America & Caribbean region and work with state-of-the-art climate predictions to obtain relevant climate indicators for health assessments at both global and local spatial scales.
The candidate will benefit from interdisciplinary training opportunities tailored to their experience and interests. Their activity will be positioned within the context of WMO’s Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), whose aim is to advance climate predictions to provide actionable sub-seasonal to decadal climate information to key sectors of society. This position therefore presents the opportunity to work alongside a wide range of leading international climate scientists delivering cutting-edge climate science and climate services across Europe. The position holder will enjoy joining one of the leading and most dynamic European groups in the field of climate services.
Successful candidates will benefit from expert training and BSC-CNS staff benefits: international multidisciplinary scientific environment and advanced applied research training. We encourage applications from highly motivated candidates with demonstrated experience in climate science and interest in applied research projects within the context of climate services.

Key Duties

Post-process, analyse and tailor climate sub-seasonal and seasonal forecasts to inform epidemiological indicators
Contribute to the development of software packages for forecast verification designed for health end-users
Assess and communicate the quality of post-processed climate information
Apply statistical downscaling methods to obtain climate data at high spatial resolution for specific sites, selecting the adequate method depending on the spatiotemporal scale and orography of each site
Aggregate climate data to administrative units
Perform user-oriented research, understand user needs and facilitate technology transfer
Actively participate in EU projects (participate in teleconferences, workshops, meetings, and writing deliverables)
Disseminate research outputs in peer-reviewed scientific papers and international conferences
Interact with scientists in the CS and GHR teams, department, center and other institutions to enhance synergies
Contribute to the development of training materials for users and decision-makers in handling, post processing, and analysing climate information

Requirements

Education
MSc in physical sciences, applied mathematics, environmental sciences or engineering, computer sciences, or a related discipline.
A PhD (or equivalent in terms of experience) is considered useful but it is not strictly required.
Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
Experience handling, analysing and validating large climate model datasets
Experience in data management and climate statistical analyses
Experience in postprocessing sub-seasonal forecast data
Proficiency in scientific programming in R is required, and experience with Python is valued
Experience with UNIX/LINUX environments and scripting languages
Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
Experience in statistical downscaling techniques is highly desired
Ability to work in a professional environment within a multidisciplinary and international team
Written and verbal communication skills in English, especially for scientific publications
Competences
Capacity to interact and build strong relations with climate, health, and computer scientists
Problem-solving, pro-active, and result-oriented work attitude
Ability to take initiatives, prioritize tasks, and work under set deadlines