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

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 ChannelLet’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.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.We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Context And MissionThe 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 indicatorsContribute to the development of software packages for forecast verification designed for health end-usersAssess and communicate the quality of post-processed climate informationApply 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 siteAggregate climate data to administrative unitsPerform user-oriented research, understand user needs and facilitate technology transferActively participate in EU projects (participate in teleconferences, workshops, meetings, and writing deliverables)Disseminate research outputs in peer-reviewed scientific papers and international conferencesInteract with scientists in the CS and GHR teams, department, center and other institutions to enhance synergiesContribute to the development of training materials for users and decision-makers in handling, post processing, and analysing climate information

Requirements

EducationMSc 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 ExperienceExperience handling, analysing and validating large climate model datasetsExperience in data management and climate statistical analysesExperience in postprocessing sub-seasonal forecast dataProficiency in scientific programming in R is required, and experience with Python is valuedExperience with UNIX/LINUX environments and scripting languagesAdditional Knowledge and Professional ExperienceExperience in statistical downscaling techniques is highly desiredAbility to work in a professional environment within a multidisciplinary and international teamWritten and verbal communication skills in English, especially for scientific publicationsCompetencesCapacity to interact and build strong relations with climate, health, and computer scientistsProblem-solving, pro-active, and result-oriented work attitudeAbility to take initiatives, prioritize tasks, and work under set deadlines

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS) is Spain's national supercomputing hub, advancing research in high-performance computing and fostering innovation across various scientific disciplines.

Summary

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center seeks a Technical Researcher to develop climate service products for health. Key tasks include data analysis, software development, and collaboration on EU projects.

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

Full-time

Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)

Barcelona, ES

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center seeks a Technical Researcher to develop climate service products for health. Key tasks include data analysis, software development, and collaboration on EU projects.

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 ChannelLet’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.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.We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Key Duties

Post-process, analyse and tailor climate sub-seasonal and seasonal forecasts to inform epidemiological indicatorsContribute to the development of software packages for forecast verification designed for health end-usersAssess and communicate the quality of post-processed climate informationApply 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 siteAggregate climate data to administrative unitsPerform user-oriented research, understand user needs and facilitate technology transferActively participate in EU projects (participate in teleconferences, workshops, meetings, and writing deliverables)Disseminate research outputs in peer-reviewed scientific papers and international conferencesInteract with scientists in the CS and GHR teams, department, center and other institutions to enhance synergiesContribute to the development of training materials for users and decision-makers in handling, post processing, and analysing climate information

Requirements

EducationMSc 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 ExperienceExperience handling, analysing and validating large climate model datasetsExperience in data management and climate statistical analysesExperience in postprocessing sub-seasonal forecast dataProficiency in scientific programming in R is required, and experience with Python is valuedExperience with UNIX/LINUX environments and scripting languagesAdditional Knowledge and Professional ExperienceExperience in statistical downscaling techniques is highly desiredAbility to work in a professional environment within a multidisciplinary and international teamWritten and verbal communication skills in English, especially for scientific publicationsCompetencesCapacity to interact and build strong relations with climate, health, and computer scientistsProblem-solving, pro-active, and result-oriented work attitudeAbility to take initiatives, prioritize tasks, and work under set deadlines

The HiPEAC project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation funding programme under grant agreement number 101296676. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.