1 Postdoctoral Research position in Climate Scenarios Downscaling and Uncertainty Assessment in Switzerland | ETH Zürich

ETH Zurich is offering positions at a New Research Team on Hydropower Systems in the context of the development of the Swiss Competence Centres for Energy Research (SCCER), promoted by the Swiss Confederation as part of the “Energy Strategy 2050”:

Postdoctoral Researcher in Climate Scenarios Downscaling and Uncertainty Assessment

The Research Team (RT) will focus on a mixture of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and integrative research activities, which aim at generating knowledge, to provide a reliable quantitative assessment of how future hydropower (HP) production can be managed to contribute to the future electricity supply of Switzerland in a time of transition and change. Key research objectives are to analyse the expected uncertain effects of climate change on water resources availability and to develop the necessary technical adaptations of HP infrastructures to cope with such effects under consideration of uncertainty in national and international electricity demand and market developments. The research aims at developing know-how that leads to concrete implementation options. The core of the RT consists of the four research positions in the following research domains: (1) Climate scenarios downscaling and uncertainty assessment, (2) HP infrastructure adaptation to requirements of future operating conditions, (3) Glaciological controls on future HP production, (4) Integrated modelling of water resources availability and hydropower systems operation. The detailed requirements of the four positions are found in the specific advertisement hereaf-ter. The selected candidates will form a multidisciplinary team that is expected to advance knowledge and interact both internally and with other teams of the Supply of Electricity (SoE) SCCER and of other SCCERs. We therefore aim at selecting candidates that not only have a proven record of scientific excellence in conducting disciplinary research, but also have experi-ence of multi- and cross-disciplinary projects, and are motivated by team-based research work. The RT will form a unit of its own, but will work in close contact with the following ETH Zurich research units: (1) Chair of Hydrology and Water Resources Management (Prof. P. Burlando); (2) Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (Prof. R. Boes, Prof. M. Funk); (3) Center for Climate Systems Modeling (Dr. I. Bey, Dr. S. Kotlarski, Prof. C. Schär); and with other RTs being established within the SoE SCCER at other research and academic institutions such as the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and other Swiss Universities. The RT is fully funded for three years from January 2014 and a continuation is foreseen for the period 2017-2020. ETH Zurich is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world and offers competitive salaries, based on experience and performance. The city of Zurich is rated among the most attractive urban environments worldwide.

This position will focus on the application and integration of climate downscaling techniques and the assessment of related uncertainties in Alpine environments. The ultimate aim is to provide high-resolution climate scenarios for the 21st century for use in impact analysis in the water resources and hydropower sectors. Horizontal resolutions down to the kilometre scale and an hourly temporal resolution will be targeted. State-of-the-art statistical, stochastic and dynamical downscaling methods will be considered, and eventually combined, to model spatio-temporal distributions of climatic parameters of relevance for catchment scale hydrological modelling. Methods for a thorough and robust uncertainty assessment will be developed and applied, results will be communicated to the scenario users and implemented in related impact projects.

The successful applicant will hold a PhD in meteorology, hydrology or a closely related field. Prerequisites are a good knowledge of stochastic models of hydrometeorological processes, particularly precipitation and temperature, as well as a good background in hydrology/meteorology and mathematical statistics. Knowledge of climate models and climate modelling products, as well as working experience in climate scenario analysis desirable. Experience with programming and handling large datasets are an asset. The successful applicant will be highly motivated for scientific research, have specific interest in the topic and appropriate background, a proven record of scientific excellence and personal initiative, be comfortable with both team and independent work, and have good organisational as well as oral and written communication skills. Excellent spoken and written command of English are required. The position is presently open for all potential candidates. The selected candidate will be enrolled as Postdoctoral Researcher. Electronic submissions are accepted only through the ETH Zurich Job portal. Applications will be evaluated until a suitable candidate is found.

For further information (no applications) please contact Dr. Isabelle Bey(isabelle.bey@env.ethz.ch).