Jobs

Jobs

Postdoctoral Research Assistant on decadal variability, climate change and teleconnections

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Atmospheric Dynamics groups at AOPP. The post is available initially for a fixed-term duration of 12 months.

This position is part of a recently funded Newton Fund CSSP-China project on “Indian and Pacific Ocean decadal variability, climate change and teleconnections”, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Reading.

The successful candidate will analyse decadal variability in the Indo-Pacific ocean region and the influence of this variability on East Asian climate, in particular through teleconnections involving the East Asian jet. In addition, the candidate will be responsible for assessing the ability of decadal prediction systems to capture, and derive skill from, these processes.

Applicants should possess, or be very close to obtaining a doctorate in climate physics or a related field. Previous experience in the field of atmospheric dynamics and/or ocean-atmosphere interactions will be an advantage. Candidates are expected to demonstrate excellent communication skills. The postholder will have the opportunity to teach.

Please direct enquiries about the role to Tim Woollings (tim.woollings@physics.ox.ac.uk) or Christopher O’Reilly (christopher.oreilly@physics.ox.ac.uk)

You will be required to upload a brief statement of research interests, CV and details of two referees as part of your online application.

Only applications received before 12.00 midday on 16 March 2020 can be considered.

Please apply for this job via https://my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=145501

Application Deadline: 16 March 2020 by 12:00 midday

Projects for Students

We welcome expressions of interest from potential DPhil (=PhD) candidates who would like to join our group. UK students can be funded through the University of Oxford's Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research. There may be alternative funding opportunities for non-UK candidates.

We also welcome expressions of interest from undergraduate students who are interested in working in our group for their MPhys project or during the summer vacation.

MPhys project "Retrospective forecasts of winter and summer large-scale circulation changes during the 20th Century"

Forecasts of seasonal-mean anomalies of the climate using dynamical atmosphere-ocean circulation models based on the laws of physics are now routinely made at many operational meteorological forecast centres around the world. Such seasonal predictions provide estimates of seasonal-mean statistics of weather, typically up to four months ahead. In order to estimate how skilful seasonal forecasts are, the models are run in so-called retrospective forecast mode. This means that a period in the past, that can be verified with observations, is predicted using only information that would have been available at the time of the start of the forecasts. This project works with a long seasonal retrospective forecast data set that covers the entire 20th Century. The unusually long model forecast record allows the analysis of dominant modes of large-scale atmospheric variability, predictability and their changes on multi-decadal time scales. The student is going to analyse the existing ensemble forecast data set and compare it with a proxy data set of global observations.
Supervisors: Dr. Antje Weisheimer, Prof. Tim Palmer, Dr. Chris O’Reilly (all AOPP)
Contact: Dr. Antje Weisheimer