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Modelling the effects of dust upon regional climate with constrained dust-source mineralogy

Dust-DN doctoral network – DC12

Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)

Supervisors: María Gonçalves and Carlos Pérez García-Pando

The Dust-DN doctoral network

Atmospheric dust or mineral dust (or simply “dust”) is a major atmospheric aerosol, and it gives us one of the most visible and detectable aspects of transboundary transport of atmospheric constituents, impacting visibility, radiation and climate. What is less evident are its quantitative impacts on health, transportation and energy production. Atmospheric dust is not fully understood at the fundamental level (microphysical properties, dust emissions, source regions) and hence atmospheric models fail to fully reproduce its impacts. Moreover, dust observations using ground-based instrumentation, remote sensing and aircraft are abundant, but not evenly distributed; in particular they are missing near the major dust sources. Moreover, the techniques are still under development, with each giving a different picture of a phenomenon with multiple facets. For example, it is now known that super-coarse and giant dust particles have gone undetected for a long time due to limitations in the measurement and modelling tools that have been in use for decades, and this misdetection alters the understanding and the prediction of a number of processes. Finally, dust affects the environment, society, and several economic sectors, with impacts on the transportation and energy sectors for example, the nature and cost of which is not fully understood and quantified. Several methodologies exist to study mineral dust, each giving its own differing picture of a complex phenomenon: numerical modelling, remote sensing, in-situ observations, laboratory research.

We establish the Dust Doctoral Network (Dust-DN), in order to address gaps in the understanding of dust and its impacts by linking the different disciplines and methods. The aim is to train a team of early career scientists into overcoming compartmentalism in this field of science, and into developing a multi-disciplinary approach to mineral dust. Dust-DN will set up a network of academic and non-academic partners working on different aspects of dust research, and will coordinate a program of doctoral projects that will enhance knowledge across a broad range of fundamental, but linked, components of the atmospheric dust life cycle and its impacts. The projects will span across the disciplines of atmospheric sciences (dust processes, modelling, and remote sensing), geology (dust emissions and source regions), as well as the impacts on society and economic sectors. The knowledge will be shared among participating institutions and the wider public and scientific community. Common activities will be held, so as to enhance the network among the partner institutions and among the doctoral researchers, delivering an ambitious advanced training program for capacity building.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

Look at the BSC experience: BSC-CNS YouTube Channel

The BSC is particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

The selected candidate will join the Atmospheric Composition (AC) group within the Earth Sciences Department of the BSC (BSC-ES). The AC group is composed of more than 40 scientists and engineers and seeks to understand the sources, sinks, atmospheric lifecycles, and effects of atmospheric pollutants across a broad range of spatiotemporal scales, from local to global and from short- (weather) to long-term (climate) scales. The group develops atmospheric chemistry and Earth System models, operates air quality forecasting systems, and applies its knowledge in cross-cutting research, addressing issues such as air quality policy, and socio-economic impacts such as health. The AC group hosts the WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System Regional Center for North Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and an AXA Chair on Sand and Dust Storms. The group actively participates in the NASA’s EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) instrument mission, hosts an ERC Consolidator Grant (FRAGMENT) on the effects of dust mineralogy upon climate, and is involved in numerous European projects tackling aerosol effects on climate (e.g., FORCeS, FOCI, CERTAINTY).

The doctoral project

Doctoral Candidate 12 (DC12) – “Modelling the effects of dust upon regional climate with constrained dust-source mineralogy”

Enrolled in the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) PhD programme on “Environmental Engineering”, the doctoral candidate will develop the research at BSC-ES.

Soil dust aerosols are mixtures of different minerals, whose relative abundances, particle size distribution (PSD), shape, surface topography and mixing state influence their effect upon climate. However, most current models typically assume that dust aerosols have a globally uniform composition, neglecting the known regional variations in the mineralogy of the sources, and those which include composition variations use poorly constrained soils mineralogical atlases. This project has the objective of improving our knowledge on the effect of dust mineralogical composition in climate, a research field which still holds great uncertainty. The doctoral candidate will work with a model to represent spatially resolved mineralogy of dust sources based on novel EMIT satellite data. The model results will be evaluated against in-situ, remote and satellite observations. These new model developments will allow assessing the climate response to dust radiative effects at high resolution, with special emphasis in Northern Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

The doctoral candidate will be based at BSC in Barcelona, Spain and will be supervised by Dr. María Gonçalves Ageitos (BSC/UPC) and Prof. Carlos Pérez García-Pando (BSC). The project will include three planned secondments of 1 month each, consisting of one at the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), with Dr. Vassilis Amiridis, to explore the links between mineralogy and improved representation of dust transport in a modelling framework, one at Technical University of Darmstadt (TUDa), with Dr. Konrad Kandler, to bring in additional observational constraints on dust mineralogy, and one at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with Dr. Martina Klose, to improve the representation of high resolution emission processes and link them to dust mineralogy.

Details

The recruited doctoral candidate will be enrolled in UPC PhD programme on “Environmental Engineering” and included in the “Dust Doctoral Network”, which involves highly prestigious research groups on this scientific topic, and which will ensure that the cohort of doctoral candidates is integrated in a dynamic and enthusiastic scientific environment. The doctoral candidate will learn about the consortium partners’ unique facilities and research topics/methods, and will exploit these opportunities for their research. All Dust-DN doctoral candidates will work side-by-side with lead scientists at world-leading institutes, and they will:

  • Take responsibility for the scientific project that they are involved in, and the instruments and/or software required.
  • Collect scientific knowledge through experiments and/or numerical modelling, and data analysis.
  • Develop tailor-made data processing methods.
  • Advance the fields of research in atmospheric dust and/or the related measurement and/or modelling techniques.
  • Participate in the Dust Doctoral Network training and networking activities.
  • Publish research results in scientific peer reviewed journals, and present at conferences and workshops.

Qualification Requirements

  • The candidates are required to possess an excellent master’s degree (or equivalent) in a physical or mathematical science subject (or other natural science discipline) and to not have any kind of PhD degree.
  • Fluency in written and oral English is compulsory .
  • Motivation for research on atmospheric dust.
  • Experience or aptitude to develop scientific software (computer-based programming)
  • Demonstrated ability in being a strong team player.
  • Strong international mobility for the purpose of research, training, and dissemination is mandatory.

Preferred Qualifications

Additional appreciated skills and competencies are:

  • Experience in applying broad scientific knowledge to a range of specific problems or scenarios.
  • Previous research experience and/or previous interest in the atmospheric sciences, meteorology or closely related discipline will be appreciated.
  • Experience with written or oral scientific communications.
  • Publication record.
  • Driving licence.

Eligibility Requirements

  • Qualifications:  The candidate must hold a title satisfying the admission requirements for a doctoral candidate at the institution where they will be enrolled (see qualification requirements). A doctoral degree in any field is not compatible with these positions.
  • Mobility: Transnational mobility is an essential requirement of MSCA Doctoral Networks. At the time of recruitment, the candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment date. Applicants must be aware that seconding periods are planned for this position as described above. International applicants are welcomed. 

Rights and Responsibilities of Researchers Participating in Marie Skłodwska-Curie Actions
The European Charter for Researchers is a set of general principles and requirements which specify the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of both researchers and the employers and/or funders of researchers. The aim of the Charter is to ensure that the nature of the relationship between researchers and employers or funders is conducive to successful performance in generating, transferring, sharing and disseminating knowledge and technological development and to the career development of the researchers.

It is obligatory for applicants to read and understand the detailed information regarding the rights and responsibilities of researchers engaged in an MSCA Doctoral Network.

The European Charter for researchers can be accessed at: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/european-charter 

Employment Contract and Financial Aid

The selected candidate will be appointed under a 36-month full-time employment contract. A competitive financial aid package will be offered to the successful candidate, with a gross annual salary of €33,300 (including living and mobility allowances, based on current social security rates). Additional allowances, up to €5,940 per year, may be available depending on family status and other needs, as per MSCA provisions. Additionally, a meal voucher card worth €675 per year will be provided. In addition to access to the public health system, there is an option to enroll in private health insurance, with BSC covering 80% of the cost, leaving the candidate responsible for only €8.22 per month. Candidates can also choose to allocate a portion of their gross salary towards products or services such as public transportation, childcare vouchers, and/or including family members in BSC’s private medical insurance, resulting in tax and economic savings. As per current Spanish law, upon completion of the contract, the candidate will receive compensation of €1,128.93 for each of the three years worked.

It is understood that failure to successfully continue the PhD program will result in immediate cancellation of the employment contract and the financial support provided.

Start date

The position starts on 3 February 2025 and is a full-time position (40 hours/week), funded for a period of 36 months.

Application and selection

Application advisory: A pre-screening of the candidates will be made by the Dust-DN consortium as a first step prior to the formal recruitment process. Candidates should submit a CV and motivation letter on the Dust-DN website, together with their university transcripts and the name and contact information of two referees, and indicating up to 3 preferred doctoral projects (in order of preference) amongst the ones advertised within the whole Dust-DN (which includes the one in the present advert). It is very important that the motivation letter should recall each of the qualification requirements and preferred qualifications indicated in this advert, clearly justifying how the candidate is able to meet each of them, and providing evidence. After short-listing, the most suitable candidates will be called for an interview.

Formal recruitment phase: The most highly-ranked applicants interviewed during the application advisory phase will be re-directed for the formal application.

With the submission of the documents, applicants agree that the documents will be shared among all supervisors of the Dust-DN consortium and members of the respective shortlisting and interviewing panels.

Dust-DN respects and supports the compatibility of professional and private life and promotes development opportunities for its cohort of doctoral researchers. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment.

Deadlines:

Applications for the advisory phase must be submitted by 31 August 2024.

Deadline extended to 30 September 2024

Formal applications must be submitted by 30 November 2024.

We reserve the possibility to extend the deadline(s).

Contact Information
For further information, please contact Dr. María Gonçalves (e-mail: maria.goncalves@bsc.es).