Research Engineer

Job Reference

580_24_ES_GHR_RE2

Position

Research Engineer - ML tools for the analysis of climate and health (RE2) - AI4S

Closing Date

Wednesday, 16 October, 2024

About BSC

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, 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 to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science under one roof and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.
We are particularly interested 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.
We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

Context And Mission

The Global Health Resilience (GHR) group led by ICREA Research Professor Rachel Lowe at the BSC-CNS is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral scientist to conduct cutting-edge methodological research on tracking past, present and future health risks posed by climate change, environmental degradation, human movement, and other global change processes.
The mission of the GHR group is to apply a transdisciplinary approach to co-designing policy-relevant methodological solutions. The selected candidate will co-develop innovative modelling ensembles using statistical, machine learning, and mathematical modelling approaches, informed by a combination of open-source and decision-maker provided data. This position presents an opportunity to work alongside a wide range of leading international climate and health scientists delivering cutting-edge climate services for the health sector to inform policymakers in Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and worldwide.
Successful candidates will benefit from expert training and BSC-CNS staff benefits: international multidisciplinary scientific environment and advanced applied research training.

Key Duties

Co-create decision support systems to enhance public health resilience to climate change
Harmonise multi-source, multi-scale climate, land-type, demographic, socio-economic, human movement and health datasets
Formulate statistical, machine learning and mathematical models to understand the impact of environmental change and socio-economic factors on infectious disease risk and health outcomes
Develop indicators to track the impact of climate change on infectious disease risks and health outcomes
Incorporate aspects of inequalities, inequities and injustices in quantitative research
Disseminate research outputs in peer-reviewed scientific papers and international conferences
Interact with scientists in the group, department, center and other institutions in Barcelona to enhance synergies
Apply for competitive grants and projects
Engage with local communities, stakeholders and policymakers
Develop training materials and deliver training workshops to researchers, data managers and stakeholders
Coordinate core activities of the global health resilience group
Support administrative duties of the group, including arranging meetings, taking minutes, writing deliverable and mission reports, maintaining Wiki/webpages, etc.
Co-supervise Masters students
Lead on policy engagement and contribute to country profiles, policy report and policy briefs

Requirements

Education

BSc and MSc in Epidemiology, Biology, Ecology, Meteorology, Environmental Sciences, Physics or Mathematics (or equivalent)
PhD in infectious disease epidemiology, environmental epidemiology, statistical, ecological or environmental modelling or related field

Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience

Experience in data management and statistical analyses
Proficiency in scientific programming in a suitable language (e.g., R, Python)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, demonstrated in scientific publications
Ability to work in a collaborative professional environment within a transdisciplinary and international team

Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience

Fluency in English is essential. Proficiency in Spanish and other European languages would be advantageous.
Knowledge on some of the following topics: Bayesian statistics, machine learning, spatial epidemiology, infectious disease transmission modelling, human movement modelling, statistical downscaling, multi-model combination techniques, and bias adjustments techniques
Experience working with public health stakeholders and international agencies

Competences

Ability to work in a team and in a multi-cultural environment.
Problem-solving, pro-active, result-oriented work attitude
Excellent communication skills

Conditions

The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
We offer a full-time contract (37.5h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance
Duration: 4 years
Holidays: 23 paid vacation days plus 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
Salary: 42.00,00€
Additional Expenses Grant: Each fellowship will be associated with a grant for additional expenses, such as IT equipment, travel, training, stays, etc.
Starting date: asap - the incorporation for this vacancy must be before the 16th of December 2024

Applications procedure and process
All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

A full CV in English, including contact details.
A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process
The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system. The recruitment process consists of two phases:

Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position.
Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.
At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment (at) bsc (dot) es.
For more information, please follow this link.
Deadline

The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.

OTM-R principles for selection processes

BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc. BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion.

#J-18808-Ljbffr