General

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Permafrost Modeling at University of Oslo in Norway

Othuke Andrew Akpeli9 years ago6 years ago07 mins

Department
of Geosciences

Postdoctoral
Research Fellow in permafrost modeling with the Weather Research and
Forecasting (WRF) model

A
position as Postdoctoral research fellow is available at the Department ofGeosciences. The position is for a period of three years
preferably from May 2016. No one can be appointed for more than one
fixed-term period at the same institution.

The
candidate will work in the LATICE (“L

and-ATmosphere Interactions in Cold
Environments”) research group and the PERMANOR project funded until the end of
2019. together with scientists with expertise on permafrost, hydrology,
vegetation, and atmospheric modeling. LATICE is a strategic research area by
the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo
dedicated to improving our knowledge on cold environment processes and their
representation in Earth System Models (ESMs). Permafrost is one of the key
topics, with strong focus on process modeling, remote sensing methods and field
measurements. PERMANOR focuses on scaling of permafrost processes from plot to
ESM scale, with a strong focus on improving the representation of subgrid-scale
processes in land-surface models available in WRF.

Job
description:

The
candidate will be responsible for WRF modeling in PERMANOR and LATICE, in close
interaction with field scientist and ESM developers. WRF runs with a fractional
representation of snow distribution will be conducted for Svalbard, Northern
Norway and the Lena River Delta in NE Siberia. Furthermore, the candidate will
develop a subgrid representation for other permafrost processes in WRF, with a
particular focus on the landscape development in areas with ice-rich ground,
including thermokarst formation and ground subsidence. Scientific publications
in international journals are expected.

Requirements/qualifications:

The
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a
leading research faculty. Candidates will be selected in accordance with this,
and are expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to
academic credentials. Applications are encouraged from dedicated candidates
with excellent writing skills and the ability to work in a highly
team-orientated environment.

The
successful candidate should have a PhD degree or the equivalent awarded by a
Geoscience faculty, with strong background in WRF modeling in Norway, Svalbard
and/or NE Siberia, in particular focussing on the representation of surface
energy balance, snow cover and/or glacier mass balance. Furthermore, the
candidate must present evidence that she/he is capable of modifying the WRF
source code to facilitate improvements of the model physics. Previous
experience with implementation of subgrid formulations of snow distribution in
WRF is beneficial. The candidate should further have experience with validation
of WRF results using field observations and have participated in field
campaigns in high-latitude environments.

The
successful candidate should further demonstrate:

Technical
expertise in programming, in particular MATLAB and/or FORTRAN
Evidence
of creativity and capability of independent research
Ablity
and willingness to participate in visits to field sites

A good command of English is required.

Salary

Position
code 1352, Pay Grade: 57 – 65 (NOK 483 700 – 560 700 per year, depending on
qualifications and seniority).

The
application must include:

Application
letter including a statement of research interests
CV
(summarizing education, positions and academic work, and other qualifying
activity)
Copies
of educational certificates and transcript of records
If
available, a copy of the PhD thesis
List
of other academic works and publications and/or awards and stipends that
the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
Names
and contact details of 2-3 referees (name, relation to candidate, e-mail
and telephone number)

Foreign
applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading
system.

Please remember that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian
language.

In
accordance with the University of Oslo’s equal opportunities policy, we invite
applications from all interested individuals regardless of gender or ethnicity.

UiO
has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results
a.o.