Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/d): Usable Extreme Weather Projections at Impact-Relevant Scales

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology; Jena; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

annual bonus

31 days' holiday

remote-working arrangements

family-friendly flexi-time

company pension scheme (VBL)

employer subsidy for public transport

opportunity for further training

language courses

health courses

Job summary

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher to study usable extreme weather projections at impact-relevant scales. You will assess biases, develop AI/ML downscaling methods, and design physics-informed bias-adjustment approaches for tail hazards.

The role includes publishing, presenting at conferences, and co-supervising PhD students. The position begins Jan 2027 for up to three years with TVöD Bund pay, 34+ hours weekly, and options for extension.

Qualifications

• PhD in climate, physics, math, data science, or related fields.

Responsibilities

• Identify biases in climate model trends and quantify them using state-of-the-art simulations.

Skills

Python

AI/ML methods

Causality tools

Education

PhD in climate, physics, math, data science, or related fields

Tools

HPC environments

Large datasets (CMIP/reanalysis)

Job description

Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/d): Usable Extreme Weather Projections at Impact-Relevant Scales

Tasks

• Identify, quantify and understand the sources of biases in impact relevant trends in state-of-the-art climate models (e.g. CMIP6/7, large ensembles, km-scale models)
• Develop and evaluate AI/ML-driven downscaling approaches for extreme and compound weather events, using model simulations, observational and reanalysis datasets
• Design physics informed bias-adjustment methods targeted at the tails of hazard distributions to preserve impact-relevant relationships between variables
• Publish in leading international journals, present at conferences, and contribute to the group's workshops and symposia
• Co-supervise PhD students and contribute to the development of the group's real-time online tool

Profile

Essential

• PhD in climate, physics, math, data science, or related fields
• Demonstrated experience with climate model output, reanalysis observational climate data and large-gridded datasets
• Strong programming skills (e.g. Python)
• Experience with Causality tools, AI and/or machine-learning methods
• Track record of peer-reviewed publications appropriate to career stage
• Excellent communication skills in English, and the ability to work independently and in a team

Advantageous

• Experience with deep learning for downscaling or bias adjustment
• Knowledge of extreme value statistics and compound event detection methods
• Experience with (high-resolution) climate simulations and HPC environments
• Familiarity with impact-relevant applications (energy, health, agriculture, economy)
• Experience in co-supervising students and academic teaching

Our offer

This full-time or part-time position with at least 34 hours/week will begin on the 1st of January, 2027, though some flexibility in start date is possible. The term is three years, with the option of an extension. Renumeration will follow the public service pay scale (TVöD Bund ) up to paygroup 13, according to the candidate’s qualifications and experience.

• annual bonus
• 31 days' holiday
• time off on 24th and 31st December
• family-friendly flexi-time
• remote-working arrangements
• company pension scheme (VBL)
• employer subsidy for public transport
• opportunity for further training
• language courses
• health courses

The Max Planck Society is committed to employing more individuals with disabilities and especially encourages them to apply.

We are also committed to encouraging diversity and actively challenging biases based on gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and other components of identity.

We were honored with the TOTAL E-QUALITY award for the first time in 2023 for our commitment.

Position remains open until filled.

About us

The Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPI-GEA) was founded in summer 2022 and is a dynamically growing, highly-interdisciplinary and international research institution. The research focuses on modeling and analyzing the interrelationships between biophysical and human-made systems, looking from the deep past to the future. The institute examines how humanity has driven the emergence of the Anthropocene - the period in which human activities began significantly impacting our planet’s climate and ecosystems - and identifying potential intervention points towards a more sustainable future.

The Carl Zeiss Stiftung Independent Research Group on High-End Climate Risks (CZS-HECR) at MPI-GEA works towards an end-to-end understanding of worst-case climate outcomes, from unprecedented and compounding extremes to their societal impacts. The group combines fundamental physical process understanding rooted in climate physics and Earth System analyses, targeted climate model experiments, advanced statistics, including machine-learning- and explainable AI to deliver usable climate risk estimates under current and future climates for core societal sectors such as health, food, energy and finance.

Contact

Dr. Kai Kornhuber

[e-mail]

Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Human

Kahlaische Straße10

07745Jena

gea.mpg.de

@MPI_GEA