The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), part of the Natural Environment Research Council, aims to undertake a world-class programme of scientific research, and to sustain for the UK an active and influential regional presence and a leadership role in Antarctic affairs. We are currently seeking to appoint a postdoctoral researcher with experience in the development and running of ocean models.
The appointee will form part of a small team based at BAS and Imperial College whose aim is to validate and apply a representation of floating ice shelves within the Imperial College Ocean Model (Fluidity-ICOM). They will be responsible for developing the existing capabilities of the model so that it can represent ice-ocean interactions at the finest scales at which ice-shelf topography has been observed. They will make use of supercomputing resources at BAS and the national facility HECToR to develop and apply the model at extremely high resolution. This capability will be used to investigate whether observed details of ice-shelf topography are formed and controlled by ocean feedbacks.
This work is a contribution towards the ongoing Fluidity-ICOM project, intended to deliver a next-generation ocean general circulation model that takes full advantage of unstructured and adaptive meshes to optimally resolve key physics. The project is seen as a critical step in the introduction of ice processes that are central to the application of the model in polar regions. The appointee would therefore be expected to work closely with other members of the Fluidity-ICOM team responsible for other aspects of the code development.
An ability to accurately model the interaction between ice shelves and the ocean is an important requirement of coupled climate models of the future. Without this ability a key forcing on the evolution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, critical to the prediction of future sea levels around the world, will be missing.
Qualifications: First degree in physical science/mathematics plus PhD (or equivalent)
Duration: 12 month Fixed Term Appointment
Salary: Salary will be in the range of £26,180 to £29,410 per annum. We offer a generous benefits package including a defined salary pension scheme, free car parking, flexible working hours and 30 days annual leave. The position is for a fixed term of 12 months.
On-line application forms and further information are available on our website at www.antarctica.ac.uk/employment
These are also available from the Human Resources Section, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET. Tel: (01223) 221508.
Please quote reference: BAS 76/12
Closing date for receipt of application forms is 5/8/2012
Interviews are scheduled to be held w/c 13/8/2012
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