Hydrological Modeller (Research Associate)

(Fixed term - 3 years training post)

Based at Wallingford

The NERC Research Associates' Programme is an initiative which is intended to offer individuals the opportunity to gain practical experience of working within a Research Institute, whilst acquiring specialist and wider skills that will be valuable in a range of careers.  The programme is aimed particularly at those who have recently completed postgraduate studies, but is open to individuals from other backgrounds and of all ages. Individuals will work on highly topical research projects, both important for future research within the environmental research community and appropriate to their backgrounds. Research Associates are given specific, measurable objectives which will be intended to develop their skills as a researcher and to demonstrate their suitability for a research career.

Description of work area

We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed scientist to work and train as a Hydrological Modeller.  The post will be within the Reynard team based at CEH, Wallingford.

The focus of the role is development of hydrological models for a range of environmental applications (including climate change, hazard forecasting and water resources) at local, regional and global scales. The common features of the models are that they are gridded, numerical models of the earth’s terrain which respond to atmospheric drivers such as precipitation, temperature and evaporation. The models differ in that they are designed for different applications, such as predicting country-wide flood statistics, assessing global water demand or quantifying river flows under current and possible future conditions.

The role will provide valuable training in a range of skills required to become an independent and innovative scientific modeller.

Description of specific work to be undertaken and skills to be gained

• Learn to apply and develop a range of models such as PDM, Grid-2-Grid, CLASSIC and JULES for a range of applications and summarise and present the output.
• Assess model performance against observations (e.g. river flows).
• Become familiar with GIS and similar packages to analyse and display model performance
• Contribute to reports and peer-reviewed journal papers and present the research to customers/peers.

Training will be provided in the following areas:

• IT skills to develop and run distributed hydrological models, and analyse and present the outputs. These include scientific programming, GIS and data management skills.
• Knowledge of available data sets and their characteristics for use in driving and testing models.
• Development of understanding of science areas (e.g. hydrology and water resources, how climate or environmental change might impact on physical systems).
• Presentation skills: scientific writing, graphics, presentations.

Skills required

A degree in a Biological or Environmental Science subject and a PhD or equivalent experience of carrying out research is required at this level.  Some knowledge of hydrology would be desirable. Useful skills include experience of working with Unix, GIS packages and programming a higher-level language such as FORTRAN. You will need to demonstrate a well organised, practical and enthusiastic approach to working within a team. 

Salary

The salary for this post is £26,180 progressing to £29,410 per annum. In addition NERC offer 30 days’ annual leave and 10½ days’ public and privilege holiday per annum.

Closing date for applications: 29 October 2012

Interview date: 21 November 2012

Applications are handled by the RCUK Shared Services Centre. To apply, please visit their job board athttp://www.topcareer.jobs/ and complete and upload the application form.  You may include a CV / covering letter with your application if you wish but you MUST complete the application form.

Applicants who would like to receive this advert in an alternative format (e.g. large print, Braille, audio or hard copy), or who are unable to apply online should contact us by telephone on 01793 867003. Please quote the appropriate reference number (below) when calling.

Please quote reference IRC68571