Professorships Available
Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction (CliSAP)
University of Hamburg
Application Deadline: Tuesday, 22 January 2008
For further information, please go to:
http://www.clisap.de/Aktuell.181.0.html
The University of Hamburg, jointly with the Max Planck Institute for
Meteorology and the Institute for Coastal Research at the GKSS Research
Centre, is establishing a trans-disciplinary research focus on
"Integrated Climate System Analysis and Prediction" (CliSAP;
http://www.clisap.de/) and invites applications for nine professorship
positions. The goal set for CliSAP is to analyze ongoing and past
changes of the state of the climate system, in response to natural and
human-driven perturbations, to determine predictable elements of the
climate system over a broad range of space and time scales, and to
determine uncertainties intrinsic to predictions of important climate
system and environmental indices. In terms of regional consequences of
climate change, CliSAP will quantify potential impacts of such changes
on marine and terrestrial ecosystems as well as humans, including
economy and security, with a focus on Northern Europe.
The open professorships are in the following areas:
Climate System Data Assimilation (Code 1950):
The professorship will expand current capabilities in "Climate System
Data Assimilation." While data assimilation has advanced to the point
that routine analyses/re-analyses are possible for atmosphere or ocean
separately, improving assimilation capabilities in the coupled ocean-ice
or atmosphere-ocean-ice system is a challenging frontier of climate
sciences. Coupled data assimilation will be essential in climate model
initialization and seasonal to decadal forecasting. CliSAP seeks
candidates with strong background in modeling of one or more components
of the climate system and demonstrated interest in improving climate
models by combining them with observations through data assimilation.
Chemistry of Natural Aqueous Solutions (Code 1951):
The professorship will be focused on the field of chemistry of aqueous
systems. Applications are sought from experts in one of the following
fields: the carbonate system of natural waters, nutrient cycles in
pristine and impacted land-sea transition regions, and stable isotope
geochemistry of climatically relevant bio-elements. CliSAP specifically
encourages applications from candidates with an experimental approach
and seagoing experience. The successful candidate is expected to develop
a vigorous research program by collaborating closely with a modeling
consortium and groups focusing on regional soil hydrology, element
fluxes, development of automated systems for environmental surveillance,
and numerical modeling of material cycles.
Dynamical Systems (Code 1952):
The professorship on Dynamical Systems will strengthen the understanding
of climate dynamics and variability by the application of
state-of-the-art mathematical and physical methods. The terrestrial
climate is a high dimensional nonlinear dynamical system for which only
limited theoretical background is available. Applications are invited
from candidates with demonstrated expertise in one of the following
fields: fundamentals of multi-scale model hierarchies including model
embedding and downscaling approaches, the mathematical basis of
reconstruction and assimilation methods, and the parameterization of
subscale processes including stochastic approaches and/or nonlinear time
series analysis.
Surface Deformations (Code 1953):
An expert is sought for studies of deformations of the Earth's crust
using space- and land-based measurement techniques of surface
deformations. Surface deformations contribute to changes of coastlines
and sea level rise. Sea level changes, in turn, modify the load and pore
pressure of offshore sedimentary systems and influence slope stability
and the stability of gas hydrates. Load changes further contribute to
the development of the postglacial rebound. Large slope instabilities
are a major natural hazard that may lead to tsunamis. The successful
candidate is expected to participate in the modeling of past, present,
and future surface deformations and to assess the risk of surface
deformations for sea level rise and storm surges.
Climate Change and Security (Code 1954):
The professorship on Climate Change and Security will be filled to lead
a group of scientists in the research on the impact of climate change
effects on local and international security. The successful candidate
will act as coordinator of research on conflicts related to climate
change and will merge results from research on climate change with
research on the causes, prevention, management, and consequences of
local, regional, and international conflicts. A major objective is to
identify local conflict 'hot spots' of climate change through the
combination of political and social data with data on climate change.
CliSAP especially encourages applications from candidates with a degree
in geography, conflict research, or a related field and with
demonstrated expertise in one of the following areas: social adaptation
to environmental change, conflict research, and environmental security.
CliSAP encourages candidates with a quantitative approach and candidates
with particular regional expertise in the named fields. Experience in
the development and use of geoinformation systems is welcome.
Media constructions of regional geohazards (Code 1955):
The professorship will be filled in the area of media representations of
climate (regional extreme events, specially storms) in the context of
anthropogenic climate change. An area of interest is comparative
analyses of discourses in the fields of media and the natural sciences.
The successful candidate should have knowledge and research experience
in media content analyses (quantitative and qualitative methods), be at
ease with discourse analyses, and have knowledge and research experience
on the field of communication theory (open to cultural theories)
concerning journalistic coverage of extreme events. Also expected are
skills in trans-disciplinary cooperation, especially with natural
sciences, international research, and lecturing as well as project
management.
Regional Hydrology in Terrestrial Systems (Code 1956):
A professor position will be filled in the field of "Regional Water,
Energy and Trace Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Systems." Predictions on the
feedback between climate change and regional water, dissolved matter,
and trace gas fluxes within terrestrial environments still suffer from
an insufficient understanding of the regulating processes. Applications
are sought from candidates with proven expertise in studies on the
coupled land-water-atmosphere-system. The successful candidate is
expected to increase our knowledge on the energy and water controlled
processes in the carbon, dissolved matter, and trace gas cycles, and
will complement ongoing efforts at the Institute of Soil Science (IfB)
and the Institute of World Forestry (IWF). He/she is expected to provide
expertise in the experimental field of energy and matter fluxes in
different land use types (forests, coastal wetlands, permafrost) with an
emphasis on the carbon cycle and local to regional scale interactions.
Advancement of Coupled Climate Ocean Ecosystem Models (Code 1957):
A professorship in Ecosystem Modeling will be filled to advance current
knowledge of the coupled ocean-ecosystems and its impact on global to
regional to local climate. CliSAP seeks candidates with a strong
interdisciplinary background, including biology, applied mathematics, or
physics, to further the development and application of intermediate
complexity ecosystem models. Successful candidates will be expected to
collaborate with the physical and geochemical oceanographic communities
within CliSAP to address various urgent climate related problems.
Activities can include the development of models of plankton functional
types incorporating to higher trophic levels as well as the role of the
marine ecosystem in CO2 sequestering in the ocean.
Numerical Methods in the Geosciences (Code 1958):
A professorship will be filled to advance numerical methods in the
geosciences. Climate research increasingly relies on expertise in and
guidance on scientific computing. Fields of interest for CliSAP include,
but are not limited to, new algorithms in model formulation, data
processing and visualization, and high-performance computing in the
climate sciences. CliSAP seeks applications from candidates interested
in strengthening the links between climate sciences, computational
sciences, and applied mathematics. The successful candidate is expected
to participate in climate system modeling, mathematics for climate
science, and advanced mathematical approaches in geosciences.
Successful candidates for all positions must have an excellent research
record and experience in conception and realization of research projects
and/or field experiments. Collaboration with research groups in the
Clusters of Excellence CliSAP is expected. Appointments within Clusters
of Excellence will normally be at grade W1 (German Junior Professor),
however grade W2 is possible provided the fulfillment of both legal and
personal qualification requirements. Junior Professors (W1-positions)
will initially be appointed for three years, with a possible three-year
extension on the basis of a positive evaluation of academic performance.
Junior Professors with an outstanding academic performance may apply for
a W2 position. W2 positions will be filled for five years initially, and
can be transferred to permanent W2 positions provided outstanding
academic performance. Both W1 and W2 positions will have reduced
teaching responsibility. Teaching is expected to be in both German and
English. The positions also bring with them funding for additional
personnel, as well as auxiliary research material, in order to be able
to quickly set up excellent research groups.
The University of Hamburg aims at increasing the number of women as
scientific staff and therefore specifically requests applications from
qualified women for these positions. Disabled persons are given priority
over applicants of equal suitability, qualification, and degree of
specialized knowledge. The University of Hamburg is an Equal Opportunity
Employer.
Applications should consist of a current CV, list of publications, list
of previously taught courses, and a vision for future research and
teaching, and be submitted under the respective code to:
The President of the University of Hamburg
Ref. 631.6
Moorweidenstrasse 18
20148 Hamburg, Germany
The deadline for applications is Tuesday, 22 January 2008.