JOB INFO
- Job Identification: 8237
- Job Category: Academic
- Posting Date: 17/08/2023, 17:36
- Apply Before: 09/09/2023, 00:59
- Degree Level: Post-Doctorate
- Job Schedule: Full time
- Job Shift: Day
- Locations: Drummond Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, GB (N/A – Do not use)
- Health and Safety Requirements: No key hazards identified for this post
- Criminal Record Check: No criminal record check required
- Contract Type: Fixed Term
JOB DESCRIPTION
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Earth Observation of ice sheet-lake interactions
UE07, £37,099-£44,263
[School of GeoSciences, College of Science and Engineering]
Full time, 35 hours per week
Fixed-Term for 2.5 years
We seek to appoint a 2.5-year (30 month) postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) to work on the UK NERC-funded project “Investigating the potential for catastrophic collapse of Greenland’s ‘land’-terminating glacier margins”. The PDRA will utilise earth observation data-sets from Greenland to determine how glacier terminus position, motion and surface elevation have changed in recent decades, in response to termination in proglacial lakes. Furthermore, they will use a range of analyses to determine the processes driving the observed changes in ice-marginal dynamics associated with termination in proglacial lakes.
This post is advertised as full-time (35 hours per week), however, we are open to considering flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.
The Opportunity:
The overall aim of the project is to determine how proglacial lakes around the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet will impact future ice-sheet mass loss, and thus sea-level rise, over the coming century. The project will run from 2023 to 2026 and is led by the University of Edinburgh (PI Pete Nienow, Co-Is Encarni Medina-Lopez, Noel Gourmelen and Dan Goldberg). The PDRA will work closely with a number of international Project Partners and a 2.5-year ice-sheet modelling PDRA, also to be based at the University of Edinburgh.
The PDRA will need to exhibit independence and resourcefulness in determining which data-sets to use to derive the most appropriate time-series of ice-margin change, and apply the most robust statistical methods to infer the critical drivers of ice-sheet change. They will also need to consider how best to link the observations and drivers of recent change to inform ice-sheet model runs predicting future ice-sheet change in a warming climate.
Your skills and attributes for success:
- PhD in a relevant subject such as but not limited to glaciology, earth observation, physics or engineering
- Expertise in relevant earth observation methods that inform understanding of the dynamics of a physical system
- Knowledge of scientific programming in languages such as Matlab and Python
- Ability to work independently on a scientific research project including experience of disseminating findings through paper publications and conference presentations
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team using strong communication skills
As part of your application, please provide a CV, Cover letter and 2 x academic references
Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab)
As a valued member of our team you can expect:
An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. We give you support, nurture your talent and reward success. You will benefit from a competitive reward package and a wide range of staff benefits, which includes a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, flexible working and much more. Click to access our staff benefits page (opens new browser tab) for further information and use our reward calculator to find out the total value of pay and benefits provided.
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.
Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab)
The University is able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. If successful, an international applicant requiring sponsorship to work in the UK will need to satisfy the UK Home Office’s English Language requirements and apply for and secure a Skilled Worker Visa.
Key dates to note
The closing date for applications is 8 September 2023.
Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.
ABOUT US
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The School of GeoSciences explores the factors and forces that shape our world. The School aims to understand the world through fundamental curiosity-driven research and to support prescient decision-making at individual to global scales. We undertake world-leading research; offer new ways of understanding natural and social drivers of change; provide inter-and trans-disciplinary solutions; and work in partnership to improve livelihoods and explore ways to manage the environment that are both sustainable and socially equitable.
With over 500 academics, researchers and research students, we are the largest and most successful interdisciplinary grouping of geoscientists and geographers in the UK. Research activity is coordinated within three main Research Institutes – Global Change, Earth and Planetary Science, and Geography and the Lived Environment – and within smaller research groupings that reach across and beyond the School.
A distinctive feature of the School is the combination of academic strength, intellectual breadth and societal relevance. Our interdisciplinary research and teaching builds on established core disciplines (ecology, environmental sciences, geography, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography) to provide a variety of approaches to understanding the world (including, for example, system-scale modelling, process studies and the development of urban and social theory). The School’s research covers fundamental ‘blue-skies’ questions, as well as having application to key societal challenges including inequality and vulnerability; urban precarity; nature and cultural meaning; development and sustainability; climate and environmental change; energy, food and water security; health and wellbeing; natural resources; and natural hazards.
The School holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to gender equality in higher education. Our aim is to recognise and value diversity in our staff and students, and to support flexible and family-friendly working.
More details about the School is available from http://www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences