You and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

Climate change is one of the most pressing problems of our time. In the Earth Observation program of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research we use satellites to answer urgent scientific questions like: What is the effect of aerosol on clouds, precipitation, and Earth’s radiation balance? How large are CO2 and CH4 emissions on local, national and global scale, and how are they changing in time? SRON is involved in the different phases of satellite projects: from mission definition, building, and calibration to data processing and scientific interpretation. Over the last decade, SRON together with partners in the Netherlands have implemented a roadmap to reduce the uncertainty in the direct and indirect aerosol forcing using innovative spaceborne instruments. To this end satellite measurements of optical- and microphysical aerosol properties as well as cloud properties are needed. Advanced Multi-Angle Polarimetric (MAP) instruments can provide the required information content. Therefore, SRON has led the development of the SPEXone instrument that will fly on the NASA PACE mission (launch 2024). SRON is also leading the data processing and scientific data exploitation.

Your position and team

You will work in the Earth Science Group (ESG) of SRON which consists of approximately 25 scientists (permanent, postdocs, PhD students) that work on data processing and interpretation of satellite instruments as well as the definition of new instrumentation and guiding the development. You will work closely together with scientists that work on remote sensing of aerosols and clouds. Also, you will work closely together with scientists from the Earth Sciences department of the VU Amsterdam, building on a coordinated research program. It is expected that you will write scientific proposals to acquire funding to appoint new PhD students and post docs.

Your project

You will work on the interface of atmosphere-climate models and satellite observations to improve our understanding of the role aerosols and clouds play in our climate system. Explicit focus in the coming years is on the use of PACE observations in general and SPEXone observations in particular. SPEXone will provide novel aerosol products related to size, composition, and absorption with high accuracy. Other instruments on PACE (HARP-2, OCI) will provide accurate and novel cloud retrievals (droplet number concentration, droplet size, cloud phase). You will use the observations of PACE, possibly in combination with other satellites, to better quantify aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloudprecipitation interactions. For this purpose, you will work on the validation of atmosphere-climate models and the combination of these models with observations.

We are looking for a candidate who is or can become a leader in the field and who is able to bring about scientific breakthroughs. The candidate is expected to setup and strengthen collaborations with national and international partners. An ideal candidate shall be able to bring together the national and international scientific community to define, build and exploit future spaceborne instruments.

Profile

• PhD in physics or equivalent with at least 5-year experience in the field of atmospheric research
• Experience in combining satellite data with atmospheric / climate models 
• Proven experience in acquisition of external funding
• Proven experience in the supervision of (PhD-) students and/or postdocs
• Demonstrated (potential for) scientific leadership and the capacity to build a consortium
• Experience in the field of aerosol-cloud-climate research is preferred

What we offer

Employment of this full-time position is by NWO-I (The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research Institutes) and will initially be for a period of one year after which the position will become permanent following a satisfactory performance evaluation. The salary will be in accordance with the salary scales of NWO-I with a maximum of 95k€ per year.

NWO-I has good secondary employment conditions such as:

• An end of year bonus of 8,33% of the gross yearly salary
• 42 days of vacation leave a year on full-time basis • An excellent pension scheme
• Options for (additional) personal development 
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross yearly salary 
• Ample training opportunities 
• Possibility of flexible working hours and hybrid working
• A favorable parental leave scheme

SRON

Why SRON

SRON's mission is to achieve breakthroughs in international scientific research from space. To this end, SRON develops groundbreaking technology and advanced space instruments. SRON promotes societal applications for space technology. We have a strong international reputation as 'excellent in space research'. The quality and societal relevance of our science is considered ‘world-leading’.