Technical researcher in Climate-and-Health (RE2/R2)

Reference: 65_26_ES_ESS_RE2 Job title: Technical researcher in Climate-and-Health (RE2/R2)

About BSC

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

Look at the BSC experience: BSC-CNS YouTube Channel Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!

We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Context And Mission

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries. Look at the BSC experience: BSC-CNS YouTube Channel Let's stay connected with BSC Folks! We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured. We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences. If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

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

Conditions

• The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department

• We offer a full-time contract (35h/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: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 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: As soon as possible

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

• A full CV in English including contact details

• A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

• Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
• Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es. For more information, please follow this link.

Deadline

The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.

OTM-R principles for selection processes

BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc. BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law. For more information follow this link