PhD position on severe storms in a changing climate

About us

We invite applications for a PhD position on severe storms in a changing climate co-supervised by Olivia Martius (University of Bern), Ulrike Lohmann (ETH Zurich) and Andreas Prein (ETH Zurich). The position will be hosted at the Mobiliar Lab for natural risks at the University of Bern (https://www.mobiliarlab.unibe.ch) and will be part of the NCCR CLIM+ programme (www.nccr-climplus.ch). The NCCR CLIM+ supports Switzerland in the transformation towards a climate-resilient society. Together with stakeholders, the interdisciplinary NCCR CLIM+ research community tackles unexplored solution spaces to the climate crisis and develops a blueprint for actionable climate research worldwide. NCCR CLIM+ broadly communicates and shares knowledge and trains a new generation of experts with the necessary domain and transdisciplinary knowledge.

The research project will analyse severe thunderstorms, including hailstorms, in convection-resolving simulations. The aim is to quantify the compounding aspects of thunderstorms (temporal accumulation and several hazards at once) in Switzerland and the broader Central European region.

The PhD student will be enrolled at the Climate Science graduate school of the Oeschger Centre. See here for details on the graduate programme: https://www.climatestudies.unibe.ch/study_programs/phd/index_eng.html.

Job description

Within the NCCR CLIM+ project, you will be the expert on severe thunderstorms. You will contribute to re-search within the NCCR CLIM+ that is aimed at quantifying and attributing compound weather extremes. You will track and study thunderstorms in convection-resolving simulations and validate the simulations against observations. You study one or several compounding aspects of severe thunderstorms in the current and a warmer climate and you will provide data and expertise to project partners across the NCCR CLIM+. You will be part of the NCCR CLIM+ programme and benefit from its extensive exchange and training in inter- and transdisciplinary research.

Your profile

You enjoy doing research and you are interested in severe thunderstorms. You have a master's degree in atmospheric science, climate science, hydrology, environmental science or statistics. Applications from other relevant backgrounds, such as physics and/or operational / industry experience with demonstrated knowledge of atmospheric science, will also be considered. In addition to enthusiasm for research in general and interdisciplinary research in particular, you should have a strong quantitative background in statistical data analysis and experience in working with large data sets on state-of-the-art HPC systems and programming languages (e.g., Python). Solid programming skills are required. Effective and proactive communication is desired. You are fluent in English; knowledge of German or French is an asset.