Predoctoral Fellow, Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3)
Ecoinformatics, collaborative modelling of ecosystem services in terrestrial, marine and urban systems.The Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) is looking for a PhD student to apply for a FPU Grant. The researcher will concentrate on the modelling of hydrological and soil related processes, ecosystem services and eco-social interactions, becoming a specialist team member in the ARIES (ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services) initiative, one of the most advanced global platforms for ecosystem services assessment and integrated environmental modelling in existence. The PhD topic will be in line with building, evaluating and delivering models of marine, terrestrial and urban ecosystem services mainly using the ARIES domain specific language and/or Java.
The student will also assist and teach in training and educational activities connected with the ARIES project, such as the International Spring University on Ecosystem Services Modelling and worldwide case studies connected with the AQUACROSS project themes (http://aquacross.eu). The student will use part of her/his time in operating and managing the collaboratory site of the ARIES community (http://integratedmodelling.org). The student will aim to publish in high-impact, peer-reviewed research in international scientific journals in ecoinformatics and environmental decision-making.
Experience/skills required:
The applicant might have a degree in one of these fields: computer science, geography, computational social sciences, biology, environmental sciences, engineering, or other fields of relevance to ecoinformatics. Strong programming skills (preferentially in Java or other object-oriented languages) and a working knowledge of GIS are required. Previous knowledge in the areas of ontologies, artificial intelligence, machine reasoning and learning will be well received. The applicant must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Excellent written and oral command of English is required. An ability to work in teams and experience in the use of collaborative software platforms and distributed version control systems are necessary.
FPU process and candidate requirements:
This is a two steps application process by the Spanish Ministry of Education. The student will first apply on her/his own and could eventually be pre-selected based on academic track/marks. If pre-selected, a short PhD project proposal must be submitted together with the hosting team's CV to be further evaluated. The first deadline for the student application ends on December 22 (see http://www.mecd.gob.es/educacion-mecd/areas-educacion/universidades/convocatorias/titulados-doctores-profesores.html)
- Having your degree finished after January 1st 2012.
- Having an official master degree or being engaged in doctoral studies at a Spanish university during 2015-2016 or 2016-2017.
- Having an excellent/good academic track (see official FPU call)
Location: Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Bilbao, Spain.
Duration and salary: The position will be for 4 years and will carry standard FPU salary: 1.173 € monthly salary (14 installments a year) plus paid internships abroad.
How to Apply: Applicants are invited to submit their CV, a one page motivation letter and the contact details of one or two referees to hr@bc3research.org with “ARIES FPU predoctoral candidate” in the subject line.
Informal inquiries can be made to Prof. Ferdinando Villa (ferdinando.villa@bc3research.org), and Dr. Stefano Balbi (stefano.balbi@bc3research.org) and Dr. Javier Martínez-López (javier.martinez@bc3research.org).
Closing date: December 15, 2015, or until a suitable candidate is found.
