The University of Groningen offers a four-year PhD student scholarship opportunity to complete a dissertation on a topic related to “Modelling atmospheric pollution and aerosol-cloud interactions”. The PhD candidate will be supervised by Dr Tabish Ansari and Dr Anne Beaulieu, and will be a member of the Data Research Centre at Campus Fryslân, which is comprised of PhD students and academic staff on all levels and visiting scholars from partner institutes.

The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School Campus Fryslân (GSCF) and can benefit from affiliations at other faculties at the University of Groningen (ESRIG - Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, among others depending on the scope of the project).

Topics of interest for the doctoral research include (but are not limited to):

1. Global/Regional/Urban scale air pollution modeling using 3D atmospheric chemical transport models
2. Modeling aerosol-cloud interactions
3. Air pollution – meteorology feedback
4. Uncertainty quantification in model processes and emission inventories
5. Modeling techniques for source apportionment of secondary pollutants.

The PhD student will benefit from ongoing research collaboration with scientists from Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur. The PhD student will present their scientific results at relevant national and international conferences and publish their findings in high-quality peer-reviewed journals. Interdisciplinary proposals at the intersection of atmospheric science and data science, particularly machine learning, are very welcome.

The candidate should have the following qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a numerate discipline such as atmospheric sciences, meteorology, physics, applied mathematics, engineering or a related field
• demonstrable programming and scientific computing skills in languages such as FORTRAN/Python/R/Matlab/NCL
• familiarity with Linux command line and high-performance computing environment
• experience in manipulating and visualizing large geophysical data sets (e.g., NetCDF, HDF, GriB) for scientific analysis
• experience in running meteorological and air quality models such as WRF-Chem/CMAQ/Geos-Chem/MUSICA would be an asset
• experience in satellite data analysis will be an asset
• good record of undergraduate and graduate studies
• good command of spoken and written English. Dutch proficiency is an asset
• very good individual and collaborative working skills
• excellent presentation skills
• demonstrable planning and organizational skills
• strong motivation to complete a PhD dissertation in four years.

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

The position is offered within the UG PhD Scholarship Programme. This programme is issued by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science (OCW) within the framework of the national PhD Scholarship Experiment. PhD scholarship students receive a scholarship (stipend) of € 2,207 per month (gross) from the University of Groningen. PhD scholarship students are not employed by the university. The terms and conditions of the PhD Scholarship Programme are detailed on the following website:
https://www.rug.nl/education/phd-programmes/phd-scholarship-programme/conditions-application/

The PhD Scholarship contract is offered for four years (1.0 FTE). Continuation of the contract after one year is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the contract period is to be expected.

A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of the Faculty. As part of the programme, the PhD student will take part in the Career Perspectives Series, which provides a thorough preparation on the career after the PhD, inside or outside academia. During the course of the doctorate, the student will develop research and teaching competencies as well as leadership skills. For this, the PhD students will receive a tailor-made programme from the Graduate School Came Fryslân.

The intended starting date is 1 September 2021. An earlier start is possible by mutual consent.

Campus Fryslân

Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 35,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Campus Fryslân is the ambitious eleventh and newest faculty of the University of Groningen, located in Leeuwarden. Campus Fryslân is an interdisciplinary faculty that works closely together with regional, national and international partners on worldwide (sustainability) challenges and local solutions. The sustainable development goals of the United Nations thus serve as an important guideline.

We offer challenging bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degree programmes. The research institute covers four research domains: Governance, Sustainable Economy, Culture, Language & Technology and Health & Food. In the summer of 2019, Campus Fryslân has moved to the new faculty building De Beurs: the first all-electric, monumental educational building in the Netherlands.