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Modelling of dust transport processes. Bridging the gap between theory, observations and models

Dust-DN doctoral network – DC9

National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)

Supervisors: Sotirios Mallios and Demetri Bouris

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 National Technical University of Athens and the National Observatory of Athens

The School of Mechanical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens excels both in Greece and internationally, thanks to its advanced level of studies and to its internationally acclaimed research. Mechanical engineering covers a broad range of areas such as energy, the environment, transportation, machine design and the automatic control of technological systems. The School is organised into 6 sections: Industrial Management and Operational Research, Thermal Engineering, Mechanical Design and Automatic Control, Nuclear Engineering, Fluids, Manufacturing Technology. There are 27 laboratories in the sections, which are equipped with a wide variety of cutting edge experimental and computational facilities and infrastructure, including a large scale wind tunnel with an environmental test section and several computer clusters for high performance computing.

The National Observatory of Athens (NOA) is the first Research Institution created in modern Greece with a continuous presence in science and education activities at international level, for more than 170 years. NOA has been historically nominated by the Greek government as the sole institution in charge of environmental, atmosphere, Earth Observation, Geodynamics, Space, Astronomy and Astrophysics research and relevant studies, with a clear mandate to offer innovative services and support for the benefit of the Greek citizens. ΝΟΑ has important human capacity with high skills in the observation of the atmospheric environment and in particular the investigation of physical processes and interactions in the atmosphere based on atmospheric and meteorological observations and modelling with emphasis on extreme events and climate studies (past, present and future climate trends, assessment of impacts).

The selected applicant will be working at the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS) of NOA) at the Remote sensing of Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases (ReACT) group. ReACT/NOA activities are targeted towards understanding physical and chemical processes in the atmosphere, seizing the opportunity provided by the complex and vulnerable Mediterranean environment, utilising advanced ground-based and space-borne remote sensing observations and theoretical models. The group’s mission is to promote world-class atmospheric research in the area by shedding light on problems of compelling scientific interest and increasing social relevance. ReACT/NOA implements and operates the Remote Sensing National Facility of the Panhellenic Geophysical Observatory of Antikythera (PANGEA) Research Infrastructure (RI) funded by the European Investment Bank, an atmospheric, climate and geophysical RI being developed by NOA at Antikythera, Greece.

The doctoral project

Doctoral Candidate 9 (DC9) – “Modelling of dust transport processes. Bridging the gap between theory, observations and models”

Enrolled in the PhD programme of the School of Mechanical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens.

This project has the objective of improving the understanding of gaps between theory, modelling and observations regarding the dust transport processes, by developing new mathematical formulations and implementing new parameterizations for transport models. The candidate will review formulations for the physical processes that influence dust particle transport (phoretic forces and thermodynamic interactions, particle shape); review parameterizations for mineral dust transport modelling; develop improved formulations for settling process; enhance understanding of the lifetime of dust particles in the atmosphere; improve the WRF-CHEM model by incorporating the newly developed parameterizations; and review the impact of these parameterizations on climate projections. The doctoral candidate will be based at NOA in Athens, Greece and will be supervised by Dr. Sotirios Mallios (NOA), and Prof. Demetri Bouris (NTUA). The project will include planned secondments  at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (Spain), and the University of Reading (UK).

Details

The recruited doctoral candidate will be enrolled in the PhD programme of the School of Mechanical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens 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 have a master’s degree (or equivalent) in a physical or mathematical science subject (or other natural science discipline) or engineering.
  • Fluency in written and oral English is compulsory (a certificate will be required in the second step of the application procedure).
  • Motivation for research on atmospheric dust.
  • Experience in developing scientific software (computer-based programming).
  • Experience in numerical methods and specifically the numerical solution of differential equations.
  • Strong background in fluid dynamics.
  • 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.
  • Previous experience in using Weather Prediction Models, and specifically WRF-CHEM will be appreciated.
  • Experience with written or oral scientific communications.
  • Publication record.

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 Greece 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-months full-time employment contract. A competitive financial aid package will be offered to the successful candidate with a gross annual salary of €33,112.08 (living allowance and mobility allowance). In addition, there can be further allowances depending on family status and other needs, as per MSCA relevant provisions.

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 in June 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 31 March 2025.

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

Contact Information
For further information, please contact Dr. Sotirios Mallios (e-mail: smallios@noa.gr).

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