REFERENCE NO: IC3-CFU-2010-05
LOCATION: IC3 headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
ENVIRONMENT: IC3 is a climate research institute created in 2008 by the
Government of Catalunya. IC3's main scientific goal is to assess and understand climate
variability and change at both global and regional scales to improve both predictions and
projections. Linked to this goal, IC3 works on understanding and simulating how global
change modulates variability and change in society and ecosystems. IC3's mandate is to
become a leading international centre for climate research in Europe, with a regional
focus on the Mediterranean area. IC3 will mainly develop top-quality research on basic
and applied climate sciences, while informing society and stakeholders on future climate
risks. Working languages of IC3 are English, Catalan and Spanish. For details, see
www.ic3.cat.
There is growing interest in the implications of climate variability and change from a
season to a few decades ahead. Reliable climate information is critical to ensure that
adaptation measures to climate variability and change are well justified and efficient. The
Climate Forecasting Unit (CFU), which is led by the ICREA Research Professor F. J.
Doblas-Reyes, undertakes research on the development and assessment of dynamical and
statistical methods for the prediction of global climate on time scales ranging from
months to decades. More information about the activities of the unit is available from the
following links:
http://www.ic3.cat/research.html
http://ic3cfu.wikispot.org
MAIN DUTIES: The position involves the development of climate information over the
Mediterranean region at interannual to decadal time scales for its application in the
estimation of the solar, hydropower and wind resources. The selected candidate should
possess some knowledge on the estimation of solar, wind and hydropower resources and
on the treatment of probabilistic climate predictions. The incumbent will apply statistical
Institut Català de Ciències del Clima, c/ Dr. Trueta, 203, 08005 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Telephone: (+ 34) 93 567 99 77 // Fax: (+ 34) 93 309 76 00 // Webpage: www.ic3.cat
methods to analyze interannual to decadal variability of wind, precipitation and solar
radiation, as well as their predictability, from a suite of climate predictions carried out in
house and in the framework of several international projects.
The research includes exploring questions such as the uncertainty of the estimates,
analyzing the impact of different sources of climate model error, the formulation of
reliable probability forecasts and the evaluation of the forecast quality.
The position is funded by the European-Union FP7 project named CLIM-RUN, which is
due to start early in 2011. In this context, outstanding opportunities exist for collaboration
with other international research institutions. The scientist will interact closely with the
partners involved in the renewable energy part of the project, as well as with other
institutions (working on the engineering and policy aspects of renewable energies) that
are involved in the assessment of the interannual variability of the resource and the
estimation of the balance in a network fed by renewable energy sources only.
He/she is expected to publish the results in relevant scientific journals and reports and
present the findings at national and international conferences.
QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND ABILITIES: The applicant should have a
university degree in physical or mathematical sciences or in engineering and have
completed a doctoral dissertation in the field of meteorology/climatology, renewable
energy production, or physics/mathematics. The candidate is expected to be familiar with
linux, R and fortran, be capable of using observational meteorological data and climate
model output and handling large data sets. The candidate will also be expected to possess
linguistic and editorial skills, for which good verbal and written communication abilities
in English are a prerequisite.
The incumbent should be able to work as an active and collaborative member of a team to
help in the achievement of common objectives, and to communicate clearly with a range
of colleagues of varying levels of technical competence.
REMUNERATION: Annual gross salary within the range of 29.000 € (IC3 salary level
S12) to 33.600 euros (IC3 salary level S15). In principle, the successful applicant will be
engaged at the lowest step of the grade of the post for which he/she has been selected.
Exceptionally, recruitment may be at a higher level when this is justified by qualifications
and experience. A deduction of 6.35% will be made for the Spanish health and social
public insurance system. In order to calculate net salary figures, an additional tax
deduction of around 15% (depending on the salary level) should be applied. A tax free
food allowance of 1100 €/year should be added to the previous figures.
LENGTH OF CONTRACT: Two years, renewable. There is a possibility of a further
extension after a positive outcome in the external evaluation that will be carried on at the
end of the contract.
STARTING DATE: The position starts preferably in January 2011 or as soon as
possible after that date.
APPLICATIONS: The “application form” and “aptitude test” should be downloaded
from IC3's website www.ic3.cat. Applicants should fill in the application form and the
aptitude test and email both of them to jobs@ic3.cat indicating IC3-CFU-2010-05 on the
"Subject".
CLOSING DATE: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, though the
evaluation of the first candidates will start in December 2010. Please, check the status of
the offer on the corresponding link of the IC3 webpage.
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