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Homepage: https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/research/group/climate-processes/

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join our Climate Processes Group in Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics at the University of Oxford, working at the frontier of aerosol-cloud-climate research and next-generation km-scale Earth system modelling. The post is available immediately for a fixed-term period of 30 months.

The position is part of the European RealESM project and offers an exciting opportunity to investigate how aerosols influence clouds, precipitation, convection and climate as Earth system models move towards kilometre-scale resolution.

A central scientific question is how our understanding of aerosol-climate interactions changes when models begin to explicitly represent convective systems and other atmospheric structures that have traditionally been parameterised. The researcher will use regional and global km-scale simulations with ICON to explore aerosol effects on cloud development and organisation, precipitation and extreme events, alongside their contribution to effective radiative forcing and cloud feedbacks.

The project provides considerable scope for fundamental science. This includes investigating questions such as: How do aerosol perturbations modify convective systems and extreme precipitation? How does the response depend on meteorological conditions and cloud regime? Which aerosol and cloud processes need to be represented explicitly at kilometre scales, and which can be simplified without losing the climate response we care about? And can higher-resolution simulations help us better constrain the role of aerosols in present-day climate and climate change?

The modelling will be confronted with a rich range of observations, including EarthCARE satellite measurements, established satellite and ground-based observing systems, and observations from recent field campaigns such as ORCESTRA. This creates opportunities to connect process-level understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions with their implications for regional weather systems and the global climate response.

The researcher will contribute to the further development and application of efficient aerosol and cloud representations within ICON, including the HAM-lite aerosol framework, but model development is a means to enable the science rather than the sole focus of the position. There will be scope to shape the scientific direction of the work and develop innovative analysis and modelling approaches.

You will join a highly collaborative research environment in Oxford and work closely with leading groups across Europe. There will be opportunities to co-advise doctoral students, contribute to teaching, present research at major international conferences and publish in leading journals.

Applicants should possess, or be close to completion of a PhD / Doctorate in in atmospheric physics or related fields. The ability and drive to work collaboratively, yet independently, as part of a team is essential.

Please direct enquiries about the role to Philip Stier <philip.stier@physics.ox.ac.uk>.

You will be required to upload a supporting statement, CV and details of two referees as part of your online application. Further particulars and the application form can be found on the Oxford University recruitment webpages.