Supervisor: Dr. Jaroslaw Necki (AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland), co-supervisor: Dr. Martina Schmidt (University of Heidelberg, Germany)

CLOSED

Employer: AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland

Project description: Main task of the project is to construct the methane balance with most accurate approximations of particular fluxes, based on documented emissions and direct measurements done with mobile platforms. The area of interest covers the Upper Silesian Coal Basin – one of the biggest coal mining areas in Europe with high methanized coal bed exploitation. Beside mining industry emission there is a lot of other sources (landfills, city gas network leakages, peatlands and wetlands) to be inventoried.

Secondments: The successful candidate will spend 1 month at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, for in-situ isotope measurements using AirCore, further 4 months at the non-academic partner Polish Geological Institute, Poland, for collaboration on quantifying mining emissions of CH₄, and 2 weeks at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, for isotope measurements.

We are searching for: For MEMO² we are searching for candidates which have experience in environmental physics, including measurement of gas concentration (any technique: CRDS, GC, FTIR), calibration. Computational skills, programming, and statistical data mining will be advantageous. Due to the internationality of the project consortium the successful candidate must necessarily have a very good command of the English language. Candidates must be willing to travel abroad for secondments and measurement campaigns, and to present their research to an international research community. As this project requires close collaboration within the consortium, candidates are expected to be excellent team players. The participation in workshops and secondments during the project is mandatory. According to EU eligibility criteria, researchers may be of any nationality, BUT must be at their early carrier stage and may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Poland for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the application deadline.

We offer: Within MEMO² the AGH offers a highly stimulating interdisciplinary research environment and access to all necessary facilities. The working place is Krakow, Poland. The candidate will be part of the Group of Environmental Physics and will have access to all necessary facilities and account on computers of AGH University. After passing the official PhD study examination, the candidate will be enrolled in a PhD traject.  MSCA-ETN projects are part of Horizon 2020 and offer attractive salaries and working conditions following the conditions as described in the respective work programs.

Selection procedure: The selection procedure will follow the Code of Conduct for Recruitment. Candidates will be selected first on EU eligibility criteria, second on qualifications. The selection process will be divided to 3 stages:

First stage – evaluation of submitted resumes and cover letters as well recommendation letters from referees (answers to 5 questions with gradation 1- 10). Evaluation scale will base agreement between candidate knowledge and skills and desirable position in project . (time line 01.01 – 01.05) Best 10 candidates will proceed to stage 2.

Second stage include Skype conversation with Dr. J Necki and Prof. K Rozanski (all talks will be recorded and questions aimed at scientific experience and personal motivation – will be scored with 0 – 100%). Best candidate will proceed to stage 3 of selection. (07.05-01.07)

Third stage will require passing the official PhD study examination – details will be available on web page:   http://www.fis.agh.edu.pl/en/26.html

Deadline: Eligible applications received before 1 May 2017 will receive full consideration.

Contact: Applications should be sent before 1 May 2017 directly to management@h2020-memo2.eu  or to the MEMO² coordinator Prof. Thomas Röckmann or Dr. S. Walter. The application material should include a letter of motivation, a curriculum vitae, copies of university and high-school degrees (including grades) and either two letters of recommendation or contact information of two people that can be contacted for reference. For more information on the MEMO² project, including this and other vacancies, please visit the MEMO² website.

For more information please contact: Dr. Jaroslaw Necki – necki@agh.edu.pl – tel. +48126173046.