Job Reference
52_25_ES_CVC_R2
Position
Postdoctoral Researcher – climate impacts on food prices (R2)
Fecha de cierre
Jueves, 20 Febrero, 2025
Reference: 52_25_ES_CVC_R2
Job title: Postdoctoral Researcher – climate impacts on food prices (R2)
About BSC
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Look at the BSC experience:
BSC-CNS YouTube Channel
Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!
We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.
If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.
Context And Mission
The impacts of climate change on food systems are intensifying worldwide, with recent weather extremes driving spikes in the price of staple foods in many countries. Food prices have recently been identified as the second most frequent way in which people are directly experiencing the impacts of climate change, and these impacts can have both political and health related consequences. Limiting these impacts requires detailed understanding of the agricultural impacts from weather extremes and climate change, as well as accurate projections of their future changes and risks.
The Climate Variability and Change (GVG) group led by ICREA Research Professor Markus Donat at the BSC-CNS is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to analyse climate risks to food security in Europe, specifically focusing on risks to food inflation and their implications for health in the UK. The selected candidate will work within the UKRI funded project “Adapting to climate-induced food price shocks in the UK”. The project will deliver scenarios of climate change impacts on UK food prices stemming from direct impacts in the UK as well as indirect impacts occurring abroad which are then transmitted via trade. Project partners from the academic and public sector will translate these impacts on food prices into consequences for the health of citizens in the UK and will tailor the communication of research output for UK policymakers and the wider public. Together with researchers at the BSC, the successful candidate will play a crucial role by building statistical models for the impact of climate on food prices in the UK and Europe and by combining these models with future climate projections and state-of-the-art decadal prediction systems to assess future risks. The candidate will work closely with post-doctoral researcher Maximilian Kotz to build on prior expertise in this area at BSC.
The CVG group conducts state-of-the-art research on climate change focussing on understanding drivers and obtaining accurate predictions of changing conditions and weather extremes. The group works closely with other related groups at BSC which focus on delivering sector-relevant climate information to the public sector to inform adaptation (the Climate Services group) and assess the health consequences of climate change (the Global Health Resilience group).
The Climate Variability and Change (GVG) group led by ICREA Research Professor Markus Donat at the BSC-CNS is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to analyse climate risks to food security in Europe, specifically focusing on risks to food inflation and their implications for health in the UK. The selected candidate will work within the UKRI funded project “Adapting to climate-induced food price shocks in the UK”. The project will deliver scenarios of climate change impacts on UK food prices stemming from direct impacts in the UK as well as indirect impacts occurring abroad which are then transmitted via trade. Project partners from the academic and public sector will translate these impacts on food prices into consequences for the health of citizens in the UK and will tailor the communication of research output for UK policymakers and the wider public. Together with researchers at the BSC, the successful candidate will play a crucial role by building statistical models for the impact of climate on food prices in the UK and Europe and by combining these models with future climate projections and state-of-the-art decadal prediction systems to assess future risks. The candidate will work closely with post-doctoral researcher Maximilian Kotz to build on prior expertise in this area at BSC.
The CVG group conducts state-of-the-art research on climate change focussing on understanding drivers and obtaining accurate predictions of changing conditions and weather extremes. The group works closely with other related groups at BSC which focus on delivering sector-relevant climate information to the public sector to inform adaptation (the Climate Services group) and assess the health consequences of climate change (the Global Health Resilience group).
Key Duties
- Build statistical models for the impact of climate conditions on food prices in the UK and Europe
- Harness sectoral trade data to identify food dependencies in the UK and vulnerabilities abroad
- Explore sensitivities of food prices to a range of climate indicators relevant to agricultural production in the UK and relevant trade partners
- Incorporate data on future climate change from large scale modelling efforts (e.g. CMIP) and more other information of future climate (decadal predictions, regional climate modelling)
- Interact with health scientist project partners in the UK to tailor research output for evaluating health consequences
- Contribute to the framing of policy-relevant reports on the consequences of climate change for UK food prices, health and the wider food system
- Interact with scientists in the group, department, center and other institutions in Barcelona to enhance synergies
- Engage with stakeholders and policy makers locally and in the UK
- Support administrative duties of the group, including arranging meetings, taking minutes, writing deliverable and mission reports, maintaining Wiki/webpages, etc.
Requirements
-
Education
- BSc and MSc in Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, Environmental Sciences, Economics (or equivalent)
- PhD in climate change impacts, climate change, weather extremes, environmental economics
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Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Experience in data management and statistical analyses
- Strong programming skills in a suitable language (e.g., R/Python, ideally both)
- Experience with geospatial climate data and/or statistical modelling of climate change impacts
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, demonstrated in scientific publications and well documented repositories
- Ability to work in a collaborative professional environment within an inter-disciplinary and international team
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Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
- Fluency in English is essential. Proficiency in Spanish and other languages would be advantageous
- Experience with panel econometrics
- Experience with climate change projections
- Experience with statistical downscaling and bias adjustments techniques
- Experience harmonising various types of data (e.g., climate, land-use, macroeconomic, trade)
- Experience with Linux environments and scripting languages (e.g., bash)
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Competences
- Ability to work in a team and in a multi-cultural environment
- Problem-solving, proactive, result-oriented work attitude
- Excellent communication skills (oral and written)
- Ability to show initiative, prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
- Ability to learn and adapt to multiple programming languages easily
- Demonstrate kindness, empathy, and respectful communication in team interactions, fostering collaboration and a positive work environment
Conditions
- The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
- We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
- Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
- Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
- Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
- Starting date: March 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter
Applications procedure and process
All applications must be made through BSC website and contain:
A full CV in English including contact details
A Cover Letter with a statement of interest in English, including two contacts for further references - Applications without this document will not be considered
In accordance with the OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for every vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will start the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. A profile questionnaire as well as a technical exercise may be required during the process.
The panel will make a final decision and all candidates who had contacts with them will receive a feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC we are seeking continuous improvement in our recruitment processes, for any suggestions or feedback/complaints about our Recruitment Processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information follow this link
In accordance with the OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for every vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will start the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. A profile questionnaire as well as a technical exercise may be required during the process.
The panel will make a final decision and all candidates who had contacts with them will receive a feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.
At BSC we are seeking continuous improvement in our recruitment processes, for any suggestions or feedback/complaints about our Recruitment Processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information follow this link
Deadline
The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.
OTM-R principles for selection processes
BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link
BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.
For more information follow this link