Research Assistant (ref.no. EMME-CARE_RA_19_06)

Host Institution

The Cyprus Institute (CyI) is a non-profit research and educational institution with a strong scientific and technological orientation, emphasizing international collaborations, cross-disciplinary research, innovation, and post graduate education. CyI, through its established research centers, addresses challenging issues that are important at both the regional and international levels. Many of its research activities are being carried out in partnership with leading institutions in the respective thematic areas.

EMME-CARE Research Centre

The current position is opened in the framework of the EU H2020 project “EMME-CARE” (Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre; TEAMING Grant no. 856612; http://emme-care.cyi.ac.cy/). EMME-CARE established a “Centre of Excellence” in Climate and Atmosphere research for the EMME region in cooperation with EU Advanced Partners (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany; University of Helsinki in Finland; and CEA in France).

The Environmental Prediction Department (EPD), under the EMME-CARE project provides essential insights into key processes of the Earth System that govern regional climate change, to analyse weather extremes, air quality deterioration, dust events, and their connections to the hydrologic cycle, consisting of the:

• Model Development and Forecasting Unit, responsible for numerical modelling and data analysis, the development of process parameterisations, the optimisation of computer codes for the latest generation High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure, and the pursuit of forecasting applications
• Earth System Analysis Unit, pursuing the chain of knowledge from processes to impacts, through the analysis of observations, model studies that focus on system understanding and feedback mechanisms, scenario calculations, climate change downscaling for the EMME and Cyprus, and impact assessments.

Research Topics

The selected candidate will contribute to the research objectives of the Environmental Prediction Department, within the framework of the H2020 EMME-CARE and other related national (AQ-SERVE, CELSIUS, SUSTURBANCLIM) and international (ACCEPT) projects in:

• Atmospheric and climate/earth system modelling and analysis tools
• Emission inventories, modelling and analysis
• Dynamical downscaling of climate change and weather extremes
• Modelling and analysis of the urban environment
• Air quality and dust modelling and forecasting
• Air pollution and climate change health impacts

The position of Research Assistant includes an attractive compensation package and the successful applicant will have the opportunity to develop in an international research environment and pursue PhD studies in collaboration with the EMME-CARE partners and spend time in Paris, Mainz and Helsinki, or other linked academic institutions in the EMME region.

The appointment will be on a full time basis, initially for a fixed-term period of two (2) years, with the potential of renewal depending on performance and Institute needs.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be carrying out the following activities

• Collection and statistical analysis of observational and model data relevant to atmospheric and climate change in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East (EMME)
• Set-up, application, evaluation, forecasting and projection with atmospheric and climate/earth system models from global to regional/urban scales
• Contribution to emission, air quality, climate change and health impact and risk assessments for the EMME
• Presentation of results in conferences and meetings and participation in journal publications