Research Assistant/associate in Climate

**Salary**:
Research Assistant: £32,296 to £33,882 per annum

Research Associate: £34,866 to £40,247 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 02 February 2025

**The Role**

We are seeking a Researcher to work on the **‘Role of natural climate variability in modulating climate projections’** project in the Climate+ Co-Centre. The Climate+ Co-Centre is a new initiative to address water challenges on the Islands of Ireland and Great Britain. Led by Trinity College, Dublin; Queens University Belfast, University of Reading; UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Newcastle University, it is funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The Climate+ Co-Centre brings together over 60 leading researchers from 14 academic partner institutions in the UK over a six-year period. It will undertake research, providing evidence and urgently needed solutions for the interlinked climate change, biodiversity loss and water quality degradation crises on the islands of Ireland and Great Britain, and globally. More information about the Climate+ Co-Centre can be found here.

You will use the latest model simulations from large ensembles including: (1) CMIP6 projections; (2) UKCP18 projections for the whole of Ireland & the UK; (3) Existing downscaled simulations of CMIP5 and CMIP6 with a specific GWL focus; (4) Regional climate projections produced by ICHEC (downscaled CMIP5&6), Met Eireann (TRANSLATE) and EURO-CORDEX; (5) Specific stabilized climate simulations.

The position is fixed term for a period of 2 years with a view for the successful appointee to commence employment as soon as possible. The position if offered on a full-time basis (37 hours per week), based on site in Newcastle. We would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.

Interviews will be held 6th & 7th March 2025.

Click here to see more about working in the School of Engineering.

**Key Accountabilities**

**The overall project aims to**
- Develop GWL-focussed projections for UK & Ireland, including quantification of natural variability.
- Develop a set of metrics relevant to the quantification of the impacts of climate change and climate variability of broad relevance to the co-centre and external users, and analyse these metrics for the model projections that have been identified.
- Examine the causes, spatial patterns and timescales of internal and natural climate variability, including large-scale atmospheric dynamics, for Ireland & the UK.
- Explore the physical mechanisms for why this variability occurs.
- Create a set of actionable outputs (products and timeseries) that can be used by internal and external users.

**You will contribute to this by**
- Contributing ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of your studies.
- Determining appropriate methodologies for research, with advice and support where required.
- Assessing research findings for the need/scope for further investigations.
- Contributing to the writing up of your research and its dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications.
- Presenting research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline.

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles. These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

**The Person**

**Knowledge, Skills and Experience**
- Knowledge and research experience in analysing climate model outputs and observational datasets.
- Evidence of planning and organisation of research.
- Experience in computer coding and handling of large datasets.
- A developing research profile with a track record of research publications appropriate to career stage.
- Ability to plan and implement research projects effectively and deliver outputs to meet tight deadlines.

**Desirable**
- Experience in statistical analysis of extremes.
- Experience in working with high resolution models.
- Ability to contribute to the development of funding proposals to generate external funding to support research (Associate level)

**Attributes and Behaviour**
- Capacity for original thought and initiating new research ideas.
- Ability to work independently, as well as to collaborate effectively with other researchers and project partners.
- An ability to communicate effectively via oral and written media.

**Qualifications**
- A PhD (or close to completion for Assistan