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Stillingstittel:
PhD Research Fellowship in Evapotranspiration: processes and estimation

Stillingsbeskrivelse:
Jobbnorge ID: 166338

About the position

Position as PhD Research Fellowship in Evapotranspiration processes and estimation in northern environments available at Department of Geosciences 

The fellowship period is up to 4 years, with 3 years devoted to research education. The position entails a compulsory work load of 25% that consists of teaching and supervision duties, and research assistance.

Starting date no later than 01.10.2019. No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo. 

Job abstractJV_description

The successful candidate will work in the LATICE ("Land-ATmosphere Interactions in Cold Environments") research group with scientists with expertise within various disciplines related to observing, analyzing and parameterization of the land surface. LATICE is recognized as a strategic research area by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, dedicated to improving our knowledge on cold environment processes and their representation in Earth System Models (ESMs). LATICE plays a key role in integrating the research and field activities of the various disciplines, including the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere and the cryosphere. The PhD candidate will be part of a motivated research team with a high number of early career scientists working together in a highly interdisciplinary environment. For more information, see http://mn.uio.no/latice/.

LATICE seeks to improve the process understanding and model representation of key features of the northern environments, such as snow, permafrost, seasonal frost and high latitude vegetation. Vegetation interacts with climate through albedo, roughness, evapotranspiration, CO2 sequestration and by influencing snow accumulation and ablation. A key challenge for estimating ET is the parameterisation of high latitude vegetation, including the lack of representative Plant Functional Types (PFTs) for e.g., scrubs, tundra grasses, as well as PFTs dominated by mosses or lichens. The role of snow-vegetation-soil interactions and feedbacks are also central, such as snow interception, which has shown to be an important contributor to ET at boreal sites. Field campaigns along with measurements of ET are vital to provide justifiable and representative vegetation parameters.

Eddy-covariance (EC) data from sites in Norway and other northern EC stations provide a unique opportunity to validate ET estimates for various high latitude sites. The PhD will make use of in-situ EC data complemented with field observations and experimental data. The latter involves using specially designed chambers to control temperature, humidity and light, and perform dedicated snow-vegetation experiments. This wide range of sources will form a database of representative vegetation parameters and ET estimates that can be used as a benchmark for testing new ET routines. The PhD project aims to derive improved evapotranspiration estimates for northern environments closing critical knowledge gaps, and will revisit paradigms and parameterisation schemes for estimating ET suitable for high latitude regions, separately accounting for interception and transpiration. It will further assess the sensitivity in ET estimates to climate and surface conditions using land surface and hydrological models as well as targeted experiments.

Model platforms used within the group include, but are not limited to, the land surface model CLM, and the hydrological model Shyft; models that are used to develop and test parameterizations for a variety of processes. The candidate will interact with model developers within LATICE and contribute to model testing and improvements with a special focus on the parametrization of evapotranspiration. Details of the research plan will be developed based on the successful candidate's own expertise and research ideas in close collaboration with key LATICE researchers. A research visit of 1-3 months to one of our international collaboration partners is encouraged. The PhD will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team of experts and supported by technical staff at the department.

Qualification requirements

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials. Applications are encouraged from dedicated candidates with excellent writing skills. Creativity and innovation are valued as is passion for research and self-motivation. The candidate should expect to work in a highly collaborative team-oriented environment and participate in a wide array of activities related to land-atmosphere processes in cold environments.

Required qualifications:

• Applicants must hold a Master's degree or equivalent in earth system sciences, hydrology, meteorology, or a related discipline (e.g., in Physics or Mathematics with experience in the earth sciences)
• Foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) should correspond to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system
• Candidates without a Master's degree have until 30 June, 2019 to complete the final exam
• Strong background in mathematics/physics
• Strong background in scripting (e.g. Python, R) or programming (e.g. C++, FORTRAN)

Desired qualifications:

• Relevant (topic of the announcement) hydrologic or land-surface modeling experience preferable from high latitude environments
• Field observations, instrumentation or campaign experience
• Knowledge of large data handling and analysis

Grade requirements:

The norm is as follows:

• The average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor's degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The average grade point for courses included in the Master's degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The Master's thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English and a Scandinavian language (due to teaching responsibilities):

https://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/application/application.html

We offer

• Salary NOK 449 400 - 505 800 per annum depending on qualifications and seniority as PhD Research Fellow (position code 1017)
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement
• Vibrant international academic environment
• Oslo's family-friendly surroundings with their rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter - statement of motivation and research interests
• CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
• Copies of the original Master's degree diploma, transcripts of records and letters of recommendation
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Documentation of Scandinavian language proficiency equivalent to B2 level of the Bergenstest (this apply only if a Scandinavian language is not your native language)
• List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link "apply for this job". Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University's grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language). Applicants may be called in for an interview.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.

The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see: http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/

According to the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

Professor Lena M. Tallaksen, phone: +47 22 85 72 14, e-mail; lena.tallaksen (at) geo.uio.no or Norbert Pirk, e-mail: norbert.pirk (at) geo.uio.no

For technical questions regarding the recruitment system, please contact HR Officer Therese Ringvold, e-mail: therese.ringvold (at) mn.uio.no, phone: +47 22 85 16 06.

Se annonsen og søk på stillingen www.jobbnorge.no

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jobCategoriesCodes_0: http://data.europa.eu/esco/isco/C2114

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Arbeidsgiver Navn: Universitetet i Oslo

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