Licentiate position on climate-fire interactions

Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre
SLU is one of the world’s top ten universities in biodiversity conservation and soil science, and is ranked #1 in forestry (CWUR). At our centre we carry out research, teaching and dissemination of scientific findings with direct application to the sustainable management of forests. We are a multidisciplinary institution, with global relevance and specialized expertise on issues related to dynamic forest landscapes. We closely collaborate with multiple stakeholders and conduct applied research in forest ecology, silviculture, pathology, policy and planning. We teach bachelor, master’s and PhD level courses addressing all of these subject areas.

Licentiate position on climate-fire interactions
Description:
Fire is an important natural driver of forest dynamics, which presents tangible economic and human risks for modern societies. Future climate may entail to higher frequency of strong droughts, leading to increased regional fire hazard. Understanding environmental, first of all - climatological, controls of forest fires should help mitigate fire-related risks. Predictability of periods with increased fire activity and association of such periods with the states of atmospheric and ocean circulation are of critical importance in this context.

The project will analyze climate-fire and ocean-fire linkages for the boreal and mixewood forests of the continental Europe using an array of modern and historical fire and climate datasets. The project will rely heavily on downscaled scenarios from the latest generation of climate models and the use of novel statistical routines for the analysis of climate data. The project is an initiative jointly supported by Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) and Coventry University (CU) and done in close cooperation with Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SHMI).

Qualifications:
We look for a candidate with background in climate science, good knowledge of relevant statistical methods, and with some knowledge of forest ecology. An ideal candidate should have strong scientific programming skills (in R, Python or similar) and experience of handling large datasets. We expect that the candidate possesses solid writing skills and the ability to structure complex research questions into a set of manageable tasks. Knowledge of dendrochronological work, remote data processing, and GIS technologies are all assets. The candidate should exhibit a strong work morale and be able to do efficient multi-tasking in an agile international team of researchers from project home universities and beyond. The candidate should be physically fit as a limited amount of fieldwork in physically demanding but aesthetically superior environments is expected within the frame of this project. 

Place of work:      
Alnarp

Forms for funding or employment:
Employment (2 years) with possibilty to extend the project for 2 more years

Starting date:
2020-05-01 or according to agreement

Application:
We welcome your application no later than 2020-04-10, use the button below.

A person has basic eligibility for third cycle education if he or she has taken a second cycle qualification or has completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, including at least 60 higher education credits at second cycle education. Upper secondary school grades equivalent to English B/English 6 are a basic requirement.

Selection among applicants meeting the requirements is made with reference to written application including curriculum vitae, copies of degrees and transcripts of academic records, one copy of the dissertation for masters or undergraduate degree, a list of at least two references familiar with the applicant's qualifications, certified knowledge of the English language and an interview.

Please observe that applicant/s chosen to participate in an interview shall hand in certified true copies of certificates, diplomas and transcripts from previous studies at an internationally recognized higher education institution (university or university college) and transcripts in connection to the interview. If the applicant is a foreign citizen we require a certified copy of the page in your passport with your personal data and photography.

Read about the PhD education at SLU at www.slu.se/en/education/postgraduate-studies/

Academic union representatives:
https://internt.slu.se/en/my-employment/employee-associations/kontaktpersoner-vid-rekrytering/



The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) develops the understanding and sustainable use and management of biological natural resources. The university ranks well internationally within its subject areas. SLU is a research-intensive university that also offers unique degree programmes in for example rural development and natural resource management, environmental economics, animal science and landscape architecture.

SLU has just over 3,000 employees, 5,000 students and a turnover of SEK 3 billion. The university has invested heavily in a modern, attractive environment on its campuses in Alnarp, Umeå and Uppsala.

www.slu.se

SLU is an equal opportunity employer.