Research Associate in Atmospheric Dynamics

About the role

Join the Leverhulme Trust-funded Seeing the Unseen project and help answer fundamental questions about how atmospheric gravity waves influence the Earth's atmosphere, weather and climate, and may provide early warning of dangerous tropical cyclone intensification.

You will work within an international team combining satellite observations, ground-based measurements and state-of-the-art numerical models to overcome the long-standing "observational filter problem". Our goal is to produce the first physically-consistent picture of the global atmospheric gravity wave field and the momentum it transports, and you will play a central role in achieving this.

About you

We are looking for someone who:

• Is enthusiastic about understanding how the atmosphere works and tackling challenging scientific problems.
• Has, or is close to completing, a PhD in atmospheric science, physics, meteorology, mathematics or a related discipline.
• Has experience analysing scientific data and writing research software.
• Enjoys working collaboratively and communicating science to a range of audiences.
• Is motivated to publish high-quality research and develop an international research profile.

• Investigate how atmospheric gravity waves are generated, propagate through the atmosphere, and influence large-scale atmospheric circulation.
• Analyse observations from NASA and ESA satellites alongside ground-based measurements and high-resolution atmospheric simulations to address fundamental scientific questions.
• Apply high-resolution atmospheric simulations to interpret observations, test new measurement techniques, and investigate gravity wave processes.
• Collaborate with leading UK and international researchers, publish in high-impact journals, present at international conferences, and contribute to open-source scientific software and datasets.
  
  The project spans a broad range of techniques, and we are keen to build on the successful candidate's strengths. We would particularly welcome applicants with experience in areas such as satellite retrievals and remote sensing (to improve our understanding of instrument measurements), high-resolution atmospheric modelling (to investigate gravity wave processes and simulate case studies), or atmospheric dynamics and wave theory (to help interpret the resulting observations), but we also welcome applicants from complementary backgrounds who can demonstrate how their expertise would help achieve the project's scientific goals. You will be joining a larger interdisciplinary team with expertise across these areas, so we are interested in how your skills and ideas can complement the existing team while helping to shape the future direction of the research.

Further information

This is a fixed term (2 year) full time (36.5 hours per week) role.

For an informal discussion regarding the role please contact Corwin Wright at cw785@bath.ac.uk.

For an overview of the project and the context of our group's work, see our article introducing the broader project in the February issue of the Leverhulme Trust's Newsletter (page 10), our 2022 multi-instrument gravity wave paper in Nature which introduced some of the techniques we will use, and our recent press release on our involvement in satellite development. Prospective applicants are also very welcome to contact us informally to discuss the role, and we will be delighted to provide further details.

As a member of Research Staff at the University of Bath, you will be entitled to a minimum of 10 days' professional development (pro rata) each year and will have considerable freedom to shape your own scientific programme within the broad goals of the project. We actively support postdoctoral researchers in developing independent research directions and fellowship applications, and recent members of the group have progressed to lectureships, independent research fellowships, and positions in meteorological agencies, industry and academia.

Advert information