Postdoctoral position on Data assimilation for the atmospheric composition (R2)

Job Reference
256_26_ES_AC_R2
Position
Postdoctoral position on Data assimilation for the atmospheric composition (R2)
Closing Date
Wednesday, 03 June, 2026
Reference: 256_26_ES_AC_R2
Job title: Postdoctoral position on Data assimilation for the atmospheric composition (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.

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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

We are looking for an enthusiast researcher to join the Atmospheric Composition (AC) group within the Earth Sciences department at the BSC-CNS. The AC group is currently composed of about 50 researchers, engineers and students of different nationalities. It aims at better understanding and predicting the spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric pollutants along with their effects upon air quality, weather and climate. This is addressed through the continuous development and application of numerical models over multiple scales, from weather to climate and from global to urban scales.

The AC group develops and maintains its own forecast model MONARCH, which is a coupled meteorological-chemistry model that can be run at global and regional scales to simulate gaseous chemistry and aerosols plus their feedbacks on radiation. It provides operational air quality forecasts over Europe within the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Services (CAMS) and dust forecasts over Africa, Middle-East and Europe in the framework of the Barcelona Dust Regional Center (BDRC). Moreover, ensembles of MONARCH forecasts are computed daily to assimilate ground or satellite observations using a Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) approach. Data assimilation is also used by the AC team to compute retrospectives analyses of the atmospheric composition or to estimate dust emissions.

To address fundamental limitations in our current LETKF implementation for estimating gaseous and aerosol primary emissions, and with the aim of extending the control vector and assimilated observations in our system, the AC group is offering a postdoctoral position to further develop, test, evaluate and conduct research on methodological aspects of the new implementation for the atmospheric composition state, parameters and emission estimation problems. Successful candidates will design and perform experiments to assess advantages and disadvantages of the new implementation compared with the current assimilation system. These positions will interact with other members of the team, including atmospheric and computer science engineers and researchers.

The candidate will work in a highly collaborative environment, with tight links with other researchers in the AC group. The researchers will have the opportunity to follow multiple training activities, including those aimed at improving coding and data analysis, scientific and project writing abilities, or project management. All this will be implemented via the formal courses organized by the Education and Training team and Human Resources, and the participation in the regular seminars organized by the department.

Key Duties

Collaborate in implementing state-of-the-art ensemble-variational schemes on the BSC’s HPC and adapt them to the MONARCH workflow.
Conduct data assimilation experiments with both synthetic and real observations of aerosols and gases, in analysis and forecast mode.
Evaluate results, perform sensitivity tests and identify potential improvements to the DA schemes.
Conduct original research and dissemination in peer reviewed publications, internal and external meetings and conferences.

Requirements

Education
A doctoral degree in the field of atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, applied mathematics, physics, engineering, or related disciplines.
Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
Experience with data assimilation and/or inverse methods in geosciences.
Experience with computationally demanding models (e.g. climate, atmosphere or ocean).
Experience in programming in Fortran, C++ or both.
Experience working in Unix/Linux environments.
Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
Experience with numerical weather prediction or atmospheric composition models.
Demonstrated scientific expertise, including but not limited to peer reviewed publications.
Experience with variational data assimilation.
Experience with Python.
Competences
Very good interpersonal skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to take initiative, prioritize and work under set deadlines.
Ability to work both independently and within a team.

Conditions

The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
We offer a full-time contract (35h/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: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 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: July 2026

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

A full CV in English including contact details
A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.
For more information, please 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.
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