Barcelona Supercomputing Center

Reference: 33_26_ES_ESS_R2

Job title: Postdoctoral researcher - Climate services for the Renewable energy sector (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.

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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 aim of the Earth System Services Group (ESS) is to research the impact of weather, atmospheric chemistry and climate upon socio-economic sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, water management, forest fires and urban development and to demonstrate the ongoing value of earth system services to society and the economy.

Within this context, we are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral scientist to conduct cutting-edge research on climate services related to renewable energy.

The person appointed will be involved in different EU and national-funded projects, with a primary focus on the Destination Earth Climate Digital Twin project, whose aim is to combine cutting-edge global Earth-system models, impact-sector applications and observations into a unified framework to provide actionable impact-sector information on multi-decadal timescales. In line with this aim, the appointed candidate will be developing climate services based on state-of-the art, high-resolution global climate projections at multi-decadal time-scales for the renewable energy sector. The appointed candidate will also be responsible for developing and maintaining the software for the computation of the renewable energy indicators in an operational environment. 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 and supercomputing.

Successful candidates will benefit from expert training and BSC-CNS staff benefits: an international multidisciplinary scientific environment and advanced applied research training. We encourage applications from highly motivated candidates with demonstrated experience in climate science, computer science and renewable energy and interest in applied research projects within the context of climate services.

Key Duties

• Perform user-oriented research focused in renewable energy.
  
• Post-process and inter-compare climate simulations (raw variables and computed indicators) from a range of sources in a high performance computing (HPC) environment.
• Maintain and upgrade Python based software for calculating renewable energy indicators in an operational setting.
• Actively engage with sector relevant stakeholders to understand user needs.
• Actively participate in the management of tasks and work packages in EU projects (participate in teleconferences workshops,conferences, meetings and writing deliverables)
• Disseminate research results in peer-reviewed scientific papers and international conferences
• Team work: Interaction with scientists in the group and the department to favor synergies, as well as external collaborators.
• Apply for competitive grants and projects

Requirements

• Education
  • Degree in Physics, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics (or equivalent)
  • Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences, applied statistics or related field
• Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
  • Experience handling, analysing and validating large climate model datasets
  • Proficiency in scientific programming in a suitable language (Python preferred)familiarity with working in a UNIX/HPC environment.
  • Experience working with Git for software development.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, especially for scientific publications.
  • Ability to work in a professional environment within a multidisciplinary and international team.
• Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
  • Experience working with sub-seasonal, seasonal or decadal climate predictions.
  • Experience working with climate extreme indices or bioclimatic indicators
  • Experience in developing tailored indicators to specific sectors, such as energy, agriculture, water management or forest fires
  • Experience with climatic statistical analyses
  • Knowledge on some of the following topics: statistical downscaling, multi-model combination techniques, bias adjustments techniques or tropical/extratropical teleconnections will be positively evaluated
  • Experience in energy companies and consultancy companies will be positively evaluated
  • Working in an operational software environment
• Competences
  • Problem-solving, pro-active, result-oriented work attitude
  • Capability to work in an international and fast-paced work
  • Good communication skills

Conditions

• The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
• We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/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: April

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@bsc.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.
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