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We encourage qualified candidates to apply regardless of gender, functional ability, cultural background or whether you have been outside the labour market for a period. If necessary, workplace adaptations will be made for persons with disabilities. More information about NMBU is available at www.nmbu.no.
About The Faculty of Science and Technology
The Faculty of Science and Technology (REALTEK) develops research-based knowledge and educates civil engineers and lecturers needed to reach the UN's sustainability goals. We have approximately 150 employees, 70 PhD students and soon 1500 students. The education and research at REALTEK cover a broad spectrum of disciplines.
This includes data science, mechanics and process engineering, robotics, construction and architecture, industrial economics, environmental physics and renewable energy, geomatics, water and environmental engineering, applied mathematics as well as secondary school teacher education in natural sciences and use of natural resources such as in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture. The workplace is in Ås, 30 km from Oslo.
PhD position within experimental meteorology with focus on developing improved data products of precipitation measurements
Do you have experience with precipitation measurements in really bad weather?
About the position
The Faculty of Science and Technology at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) has a vacant PhD–position related to precipitation measurements within the field of experimental meteorology. The PhD position is for a period of 3 years, or up to 4 years if teaching and other work duties are agreed.
This PhD research project aims at the development of a more accurate precipitation measurement product in challenging weather situations.
It may come as a surprise to many users, that precipitation measurements remain challenging to this day, especially in more extreme climate conditions with lots of heavy winds and frequent events with solid or mixed precipitation.
The development of traditional gauges, i.e.weighing gauges and tipping buckets, has likely come to a point, where further optimization is difficult. And still, they are non-neglectable uncertainties in these measurements as wind-induced undercatch.
Studies on non-traditional instrument types, i.e, optical measurements such as disdrometers and forward scattering instruments, which have emerged in recent decades, showed an even larger degree of uncertainty under certain circumstances in the precipitation amount, but provide details about the precipitation particles’ size and fall speed.
This successful PhD-candidate will analyse existing measurements, performing own observations and work on combining products from the different sensors, utilizing the strengths and different information contents of those sensors, thus compensating for the weaknesses of the individual measurement methods depending on the weather situation.
The university fully funds the PhD scholarship.
In addition to existing datasets from several stations in Norway, dedicated field campaigns are planned, which will use the facilities of NMBU and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
An application for a PhD position at NMBU is at the same time an application for admission to a PhD programme at the institution. The documentation that is necessary to ensure that the admission requirements are met must be uploaded as an attachment.
Main tasks
The successful candidate is asked
to analyze existing data and participate in field campaigns to acquire new precipitation datasets applying different sensors and measurement methods under different conditions
to develop, test, and apply near-real time methods to combine data from different precipitation sensors to compensate for the individual and situation-dependent lack of accurateness
to verify results with reference gauge measurements and other independent sources (i.e. satellites, models)
to write academic papers and present the work at international conferences.
To reach out and collaborate with researchers applying precipitation measurements in their work
The successful candidate is expected to enter a plan for the progress of the work towards a PhD degree during the first months of the appointment, with a view to completing a doctorate within the PhD scholarship period.
Photograph of the Precipitation Test and Reference site at Haukeliseter, Telemark in Norway. It is planned to perform field campaigns at this site during the PhD project
Competence
The successful applicant must meet the conditions defined for admission to a PhD programme at NMBU. The applicant must have an academically relevant education corresponding to a five-year master’s degree or a cand.med.vet. degree, with a learning outcome corresponding to the descriptions in the Norwegian Qualification Framework, second cycle. Candidates submitting MSs thesis within 30. June 2022 may be considered. The applicant must have a documented strong academic background from previous studies and be able to document proficiency in both written and oral English. For more detailed information on the admission criteria please see the PhD Regulations and the relevant PhD programme description.
The applicant must document expertise and interest in the research subject.
Required Academic qualifications
MSc or equivalent degree in Atmospheric, Physical or Geophysical Science, Engineering, Meteorology or similar field
Required qualifications
Willingness and physical ability to conduct field experiments in and outside Norway
Programming experience in R, Python or similar
Good command of the English language (written and spoken)
The following experiences and skills will be emphasized:
Knowledge of Norwegian Language or other Scandinavian Language
Experience in experimental meteorology from laboratory or field work
Active participation in field campaigns
Experience with machine learning
Experience with analyzing datasets from instrument networks, satellite sensors or numerical models
You need to:
Be highly motivated and become an active member of our team
Be able to work independently
Be a team player
Have good communication skills
Remuneration and further information
The position is placed in government pay scale position code 1017. PhD fellows are normally placed in pay grade 54 (NOK 491.200,-) on the Norwegian Government salary scale upon employment and follow ordinary meriting regulations.
Employment is conducted according to national guidelines for University and Technical College PhD scholars.
For further information, please contact:
Dr. Mareile A. Wolff, associate professor of physics at NMBU, E-mail: mareile.astrid.wolff@nmbu.no; phone +47 450 81 462
To apply online for this vacancy, please click on the 'Apply for this job' button above. This will route you to the University's Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register an account (if you have not already) and log in before completing the online application form.
Application deadline: 01.06.2022
In the application, the candidate must confirm that information and documentation (in the form of attachments) submitted via the job application can also be used by NMBU in a possible admission process.
Applicants invited for an interview are expected to present original diplomas and certificates.
The following documents must be attached to the application:
Motivation letter (maximum 1 page)
Complete CV
Certified copies of academic diplomas and certificates. (i.e. Di-ploma, transcript. Diploma supplement for both bachelor and master). Diplomas, transcripts and diploma supplements that are not in Norwegian or English must be uploaded in the original language. An English translation of these documents must also be attached.
Applicants from universities outside Norway are kindly requested to send a diploma supplement, or a similar document, which describes in detail the study program and grading system.
Documentation of proficiency in written and oral English in accordance with NMBU PhD regulation section 5-2 (3).
Names and contact details for two references
Additional relevant documentation of professional knowledge (for example, list of scientific works). If it is difficult to judge the applicant’s contribution for publications with multiple authors, a short description of the applicant’s contribution must be included.
