Vacancy for a Junior Research Scientist in Observation and Modeling of the West African Monsoon

The closing date for applications is November 15, 2014.

WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) is a research and education-focused institute designed to help tackle the climate change challenge and thereby enhance the resilience of human environmental systems. It does so by strengthening the research capacity and infrastructure in West Africa related to climate change by pooling the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany. The West African countries include: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d‘Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

WASCAL has its headquarters in Accra, Ghana from where it coordinates 10 graduate schools at different universities in the region. WASCAL also has a Competence Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where it manages the climate research activities.

In WASCAL, the impact of climate change on water resources, agriculture, biodiversity, economies and the livelihood of the population in West Africa is thoroughly investigated. In this regards, observational datasets are being gathered and Regional Climate Models further developed and applied at high resolution to help improve our understanding of the West African Monsoon dynamics.

Therefore, the Climate Change and Climate Modeling group of the WASCAL Competence Center seeks to hire a Junior Research Scientist to take part in research on advance understanding of the West African Monsoon dynamics under climate change. This research will use station datasets from WASCAL and meteorological services in partner countries combined with observed gridded products and Regional Climate Models output.

The successful candidate will be expected to

Take part on the on-going activities on data collection and assembly through the WASCAL climate observation network
Develop methods to characterize the West African Monsoon (WAM) System and advance the understanding of its dynamic
Further develop and adapt a Regional Climate Model over West Africa
Analyze observation datasets and perform high resolution sensitivity experiments to understand the role of key features of the WAM and their interactions under global warming
Contribute to the supervision of the graduate students from WASCAL partner countries
Present the research at regional and international conferences
Publish results in peer reviewed journals and/or conference proceedings.

This position requires

An excellent PhD in Atmospheric Science, Climate Science or any other related field; Candidates that will defend their PhD thesis by December 2014 can still apply
Excellent knowledge of the West African Monsoon system and its dynamics
Comprehensive experience in working with complex Regional Climate Models and Land-Surface Models in a HPC environment; Previous experience with the ICTP RegCM4 is an asset
Strong ability to generate, process and analyze large datasets. Previous experience in working on projects or programs such as AMMA, CORDEX, etc. is desirable
Extensive skills in Lunix scripting language (bash, shell, etc.), programming language (e.g. FORTRAN) and display and analysis tools (GrADS, NCL, etc.)
Ability to assimilate new concepts and adapt to a rapidly evolving scientific and computational environment
Excellent oral and written communications skills; Fluency in English and conversant in French

WASCAL offers competitive salary and other fringe benefits. All applications, including curriculum vitae, a list of publications, a statement of motivation and the names and contact information of three referees should be emailed to (candidature@wascal.org). Please indicate “Monsoon” in the subject line.

For further technical information, please contact Dr. Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla (sylla.b@wascal.org; syllabamba@yahoo.fr).

The closing date for applications is November 15, 2014. WASCAL encourages women to apply for this position.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Cheers

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Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla, PhD
Senior Scientist on Climate Modeling and Climate Change
West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Landuse (WASCAL)
WASCAL Competence Center, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Office : (+226) 50 37 54 23/29/39; Cell: (+226) 77 73 43 11
E-mail: sylla.b@wascal.org