Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy

The above ESA funded, full-time post is available on a fixed term basis from 01 March 2025 to 30 April 2027 in the Faculty.

The post

The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to participate in the XFires (extreme fires in the climate system) project funded by the European Space Agency.The successful applicant will evaluate the impact of selected extreme fires events on atmospheric composition and climate using the UK Earth System Model (UKESM).  

The University of Exeter is the lead of the large ESA XFires project which aims to define, characterise and model extreme fires. Project partners will generate new emissions associated with extreme fires, and contrast those with ‘normal’ fires for use by us as input into an Earth System Model, to quantify their impacts on atmospheric composition and climate. Other project teams will also explore the wider impact of extreme fires on human health, lakes, and via black carbon deposition affecting melt-rates on the Greenland ice-sheet. The project relies heavily on the application of remotely-sensed Essential Climate Variables (ECVs).

About you

The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in fire science or aerosols in the Earth System and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required. Applicants will be able to develop and apply fire emissions algorithms with a focus on determining the emission characteristics of biomass burning smoke. They should also have experience in atmospheric aerosol science, analysis of large environmental datasets, and have high-level mathematical, coding and analytical skills.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role by clicking on the attachment.

To find out more about what we offer our staff, please visit: Benefits | Prospective Staff | University of Exeter

The University of Exeter

We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking 2024). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by Gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment

We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces.

Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented within our working community. 

For further information please contact Prof. Jim Haywood, e-mail j.m.haywood@exeter.ac.uk, or Prof. Stephen Sitch, email s.a.sitch@exeter.ac.uk.

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