Research assistant SW1 at RMI

The Atmospheric Composition, Measurements and Modelling team (ACM² team) at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium is opening a full time position for a short-term contract (18 months) with the possibility for a prolongation within the framework of the FWO TEMPUR (ClimaTE change-related Mortality in different Population groups in URbanized Belgium) project.

The ACM² team:

At the RMI, the ACM² team is responsible for providing on a daily basis the UV-index forecast and keeping track of its observations with our BREWER spectrophotometers. We also derive the total aerosol optical depth from these observations. Our team performs three times a week ozone soundings using  weather balloons. Ceilometer instruments are operated over the Belgian domain, to detect aerosols at higher altitudes and identify the type of aerosol. Within the framework of EUMETSAT’s AC SAF project, our team is validating different ozone and aerosol products.

The ACM² team at RMI is also charged with the calculation of atmospheric potential source regions and air mass trajectories, related to the observed time series of, e.g., ozone or aerosols.

On a daily basis during the grass and birch season, a daily forecast is provided, using the chemical transport model SILAM.

Framework of the project:

The TEMPUR project aims to evaluate climate change-related (cause-specific) excess mortality attributed to temperature under different future climate and population projections at a high spatiotemporal scale in Belgium. Greenhouse gas emissions are the main driver of global rising temperatures, affecting health and mortality worldwide. Currently, almost half of the global population lives in urban areas, usually characterized by their higher environmental hazard burden (e.g., elevated levels of heat and air pollution). With future projections of both population growth and climate change, exposure to environmental hazards and subsequent health risks are only expected to increase. This project is in collaboration with VUB, Ghent University, Sciensano and Université Catholique de Louvain.

Today, RMI is also running high-resolution air quality models. For the TEMPUR project, RMI is looking for a scientist, who is motivated to work with these chemical transport and dispersion models and make adaptations in the code. It is also the goal to install the software on a supercomputer and keep it running. The successful candidate will contribute to run these models and analyze the respective results.

In addition, the scientist shall:

• Contribute to journal paper(s)
• Participate to the project meetings and reviews.
• Be prepared to travel regularly for short missions (1 or 2 days).

Qualifications:

• Master in natural science or (bioscience) engineering.
• Affinity with scientific research in atmospheric composition, (geo)physics and remote sensing
• Good computer programming skills (fortran) and interest in scientific modelling.
• Working experience with UNIX/Linux systems
• Working experience with data processing languages (R, IDL, Python,…).
• Good English writing and presentation skills.
• Experience with scientific publications.

Assets:

• Ability to work in a multi-lingual environment with a good knowledge of English.
• Working experience with the NetCDF data format and handling tools.
• Expertise in instrumentation for atmospheric composition measurements is an asset (e.g., aerosol in-situ, radio soundings, ozone)

Offer:

We offer a contract SW1 for the duration of 18 months with several benefits:

-        Good work Life-balance

o Flexible working hours in a 38-hour week.

o ability to take any overwork in recup

o possibility of teleworking

o 26 days of annual leave and days off between Christmas and the New Year

-        Financial advantages

o advantageous hospitalization insurance

o supplementary pension plan (second pillar)

o free commuting by public transport

o possibility of receiving meal vouchers

o possibility to get a telework bonus

o possibility to get a bicycle allowance

o benefits and interesting offers via Benefits@Work

o all kinds of social benefits

Applications:

Consisting of a statement of interest accompanied by a full CV that includes detailed information on academic qualifications and results must be sent to Kevin.Knockaert@meteo.be no later than 21st of October 2024.

More information:

ir. Andy Delcloo (PhD)

e: Andy.Delcloo@meteo.be or t:+32-2-373-05-96