Post-doctoral position (2 years): Emission modelling

NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research is seeking a postdoctoral fellow or young researcher to support the ongoing research and development work within emissions modelling. We seek a postdoctoral candidate with extensive expertise in data collection and processing, statistical analysis, geo-processing and/or physical mathematical model development. 

The candidate will work in the project EMISYS - Emission system for climate gases, air pollutants and other environmental contaminants. The position will be within a dynamic group working at the development of high-resolution emission models for air pollutants and greenhouse gases suitable at urban and regional scale. The emission model approach of this group is to build models on physical processes at high spatial and temporal resolution. Existing models for emissions developed within the group include residential wood combustion, on-road traffic and both domestic and international aviation. 

The selected candidate will support the work to operate and further develop existing models as well as developing models for new sectors, with special, but not exclusive, focus on anthropogenic emissions. The aim of the models is to give scalable and accurate sectorial emissions of air pollutants, climate gases and other environmental contaminants to support both research and policymaking directly, but also improve atmospheric modelling. 

Good input data is core to any model and data collection is a key aspect to each model. Input data often reside in fragmented and / or decentralised databases; thus, a large part of the postdoctoral fellowship’s work will be to set up collection and merging routines to generate usable model input data. This process has in the past included anything from setting up webcrawling and machine learning routines to calling data owners by phone. 

In addition, the postdoctoral fellowship will support other existing projects within the same field, including communication and advisory work with authorities.   

Essential duties  

• Conduct research in and development of sectorial emission modelling at high resolution. 
• Contribute to the group by designing, implementing, analysing and presenting emission modelling results. 
• Document research by publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals and present technical results at scientific conferences. 
• Pursue independent and complementary research interests within the group and interact with a broad spectrum of researchers both internally and externally to the emission group. 

Qualifications  

• Ph.D. degree in Atmospheric Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics or a related field. 
• Experience with numerical methods and model development 
• Good skills in a programming/scripting language (e.g. MATLAB, R, Python) 
• It is desired that the candidates have experience with data mining, machine learning, uncertainty quantification, statistical analysis and atmospheric modelling.  
• Previous knowledge on the official emission reporting to The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) will be considered an advantage, although not a requirement.  
• Excellent in spoken and written English. Good communication skills in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language will be considered an advantage 

The application must include (as a single complete PDF file):

• Application letter including a statement of motivation and research interests
• CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work)
• List of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number)
• Copies of educational certificates and degrees

Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading system. Please remember that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language. Applications with documents missing will not be considered further. Original documentation may be requested.

We can offer: 

• International environment with professional and friendly colleagues from all over the world, and broad experience and complementary competence 
• Access to a wide network of national and international collaborators 
• A constantly learning environment with participation in conferences, workshops, and international training events 
• Flexible working hours 
• Open source and open access philosophy regarding software and data 
• Excellent pension, welfare, and insurance schemes, and a competitive salary 
• Easy access to the greater Oslo region with plenty of opportunities for cultural and outdoor activities 

Our main office is located at Kjeller, just outside Oslo. We have extensive collaboration with national and international research institutes and universities. Details about NILU can be found at www.nilu.no. 

Informal enquiries about the available position can be directed to Senior Scientist Susana Lopez-Aparicio (sla @ nilu.no). 

Applications should be admitted through Finn.no. Click on the blue button onn the right named "Søk her" and enter the required information and add your PDF-document.

You may also send the application directly to HR-Manager Kristin Butveit (kbu @ nilu.no)