PhD position on Antarctic Climate Causality

10 Apr 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

KU Leuven

Research Field

Environmental science » Other

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Belgium

Application Deadline

29 Apr 2024 - 00:00 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

38 hours/week

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Reference Number

BAP-2024-205

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Antarctica and the Southern Ocean play a key role in the Earth's climate system, influencing global heat balance and carbon uptake. Recent anomalies, including a drastic sea ice decline, anomalous snowfall, and unprecedented heat waves, challenge our understanding of the region's response to climate change. This project aims at an improved understanding of recent changes occurring in the Antarctic climate by investigating the interconnections between the ice sheet surface mass balance (SMB), sea ice, ocean temperature, and ice shelf melt, utilizing observations and a recently developed fully coupled ice-sheet–ocean–sea-ice–atmosphere–land model, PARASO, covering Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The interactions between climate components cover both direct links and indirect links due to varying large-scale atmospheric processes. The methodology integrates observations and simulations, employing causal frameworks to identify relationships. The work packages involve identifying links between atmospheric circulation, sea ice, and SMB variability from observations (WP1), unravelling the role of large-scale atmospheric variability (WP2), exploring potential feedbacks related to sea ice changes (WP3), and synthesizing contributions to recent and future climate changes (WP4). By employing advanced causal inference methods, the project strives to overcome challenges in attributing causality from observational data. In a complementary way, the PARASO model allows for a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between different components that cannot be identified from observations alone. Moreover, the model will be used for future Antarctic climate projections. This proposal's outcomes will advance our understanding of recent Antarctic climate changes and their interlinkage, offering insights into the future of the coupled Antarctic climate system.

Requirements

Research Field

Environmental science

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Additional Information
Benefits

• PhD Candidate, expected to obtain a joint PhD of UCLouvain and KU Leuven;
• Starting date preferably 1 October 2024;
• Full time position for 48 months of which the first 24 months at KU Leuven and the second 24 months at UC Louvain;
• Location: Department Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium and Earth and Life Institute, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;
• Net monthly salary of about 2400 €, depending on personal situation. This includes social insurance. Transportation to and from the workplace is covered;
• Contribution to educational activities is expected for about 10% of your time.

Eligibility criteria

Required qualifications:

• To have a Master degree at the start of the project (1 Oct 2024) in Earth - or Environmental Science, Climatology or related field (physics, bioscience engineering, geography, meteorology, oceanography, mathematics, informatics, civil engineering, etc.);
• To have experience in computational programming and in managing large datasets;
• To have demonstrated verbal and written communication skills in English;
• To have a collaborative mindset: Enjoys working with others to achieve common objectives.

Selection process

Applicants should send (i) a statement of experience, qualification and interest, (ii) a complete CV, (iii) academic transcripts and (iv) the names and e-mail of at least two references to the online application system of KU Leuven.Tentative dates for the interview are 8 May and 13 May 2024 using teleconferencingFor more information please contact Prof. Hugues Goosse tel.: +32 10 47 32 98, mail: [email protected] ,  Prof. Nicole Van Lipzig, tel.: +32 16 32 64 53, mail: [email protected] . Prof Stef Lhermitte:  tel.: +32 498 569351, mail: [email protected]

You can apply for this job no later than 29/04/2024 via the online application tool

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

KU Leuven

Country

Belgium

State/Province

Vlaams Brabant

City

Leuven

Postal Code

3000

Street

Leuven

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://easyapply.jobs/r/kl3qU7k21Hlyzk4jYC2f

Contact

State/Province

Leuven

City

Vlaams Brabant

Street

Leuven

Postal Code

3000

STATUS: EXPIRED