Postdoctoral fellow in weather and climate physics

Norway | Sept. 3, 2026

Report as Closed

Company: UNIVERSITETET I BERGEN FAKULTETET FOR NATURVITENSKAP OG TEKNOLOGI

Country: Norway

Type: Onsite

Employment: Contract

Description: Knowledge that shapes society

UiB must be among Europe's foremost universities, internationally known for high quality in research and education. As a community institution, we shall contribute to a sustainable and democratic development and be an attractive and inclusive study and workplace.

Video: https://youtu.be/M5n6RnScNgAPostdoctoral position

At Geophysical institute and Bjerknes center for climate research there is a vacancy for a postdoctoral position in environmental and climate physics, and representation of these through machine learning. The position is for a term of three years and is linked to the project "Reaching AI Projections Trustworthy for Unseen Rainfall Extremes (RAPTURE)", financed by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

About the project/tasks:

How can we simulate the characteristics and dangers of extreme rainfall under conditions we have never observed, in a credible way? RAPTURE is a five-year project that focuses on this question, which lies at the core of understanding flood disasters in an increasingly warmer and wetter world. RAPTURE brings together high-resolution physical simulations, machine learning-based climate emulators and new perspectives on the dynamics of weather and climate to understand i) what current simulations of extreme precipitation already capture reliably, ii) where they need to be trusted, and iii) how they can be trusted. Working as part of RAPTURE will provide expertise in dynamic meteorology, machine learning for the earth system and climate risk research, with the opportunity to participate in European research collaboration.

The appointed person will be a central part of RAPTURE, where the person concerned will train and further develop ground-breaking machine learning emulators and use new diagnostic tools to understand how well these emulators work, from a physical and multidisciplinary perspective. Those involved will seek answers to central, open research questions, including which data sources provide the most reliable climate projections, whether certain weather phenomena are more demanding to model with machine learning than others, and whether it is possible to develop emulators that can be used in areas of the world with sparse data bases. Whoever is appointed will have the opportunity to influence how these issues are handled, and it is expected that the person concerned will put their own stamp on their work.

Qualifications and characteristics:

• Applicants must have obtained a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctorate (PhD) within atmospheric physics, meteorology, climate science or machine learning. PhD students can apply if the defense has been completed before March 2027. It is a prerequisite that the doctorate has been obtained before employment can take place
• Good mathematical and analytical skills are a requirement
• Interest in meteorology linked to extreme events and machine learning for the earth system is a requirement
• Good and documented programming skills are a requirement
• Experience with geospatial data analysis in Python, work in a scientific HPC environment, use of machine learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch) and version control tools (e.g. GitHub) is an advantage
• Applicants must be able to work independently, structured and have good collaboration skills
• Applicants must have good English skills, written and oral

Personal and interpersonal qualities will be emphasized. Research experience, ambitions and potential will also count when assessing the candidates.

Specific requirements for the position
UiB is subject to the regulations for export control and the regulations apply when processing applications for the position.

About the postdoctoral position:

The postdoctoral position is a one-year position and the main goal is to qualify the person who is appointed to work in top scientific positions. Candidates who lack teaching experience and/or other qualifying skills will be given the opportunity for qualifying work, either during the term period or through a possible extension of the term period (maximum four years in total). The position can be extended by up to one year if the candidate is granted a research stay abroad from external sources (maximum four years in total). No one can be appointed for more than one year as a postdoctoral researcher at the same institution.

After taking up the position, the postdoctoral fellow must, in collaboration with the supervisor and head of department, prepare a plan for the qualification work, including a progress plan.

It is a prerequisite that the person who is appointed completes the project during the appointment period.

We offer:

• a good and professionally stimulating work environment
• appointment as a postdoctoral fellow (code 1352) in the salary regulations of the state. This amounts to an annual salary of NOK. 685,900. Further promotions take place according to seniority. For particularly qualified applicants, it may be appropriate to consider a higher salary
• membership of the State Pension Fund
• good welfare schemes

The application must contain:

A letter of application containing:

• a brief explanation of research interests and the motivation for applying for the position
• a detailed explanation of the qualifications yours in relation to the listed requirements, and how you fulfill each criterion. In addition, you should address the aforementioned "advantages", as these will be considered when ranking the candidates

(Note: Generative KI will not be used to assess the applications, and it is expected that the application letter is also prepared without the use of generative KI.)

• names and contact details of two references. One of these should be the head of law from the doctoral programme. If this is not the case, a brief explanation must be given in the application letter
• CV
• transcripts and diplomas. If you have not yet completed your doctorate, you can submit a confirmation from the institution of the expected date of obtaining the doctorate. The doctorate must be documented with a diploma, or alternatively a confirmation from the degree-granting institution that the degree has been completed, by March 2027
• relevant certificates
• a list of any scientific work you believe is relevant to document your professional output and your potential. This includes published articles or other contributions, among other openly available submitted manuscripts, contributions to scientific software, organization of conferences or workshops, or science communication activities

Application and attachments with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded to JobbNorge. 

General information:

Further information about the position can be obtained by contacting Dr. Joshua Oldham-Dorrington, Department of Geophysics, University of Bergen, joshua.dorrington@uib.no, or head of department Tor Eldevik, Department of Geophysics Tor.Eldevik@uib.no.

For HR-related questions contact Magnus Larsen, e-mail: magnus.larsen@uib.no.

Diversity is a strength and enables us to solve our tasks better. UiB therefore needs qualified employees regardless of gender, ethnicity, economic background, religion, outlook on life, functional impairment, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and age.

The University of Bergen uses discretion when appointing academic positions. Information about the applicant can be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be included on the applicant list. If the request is not accepted, the applicant must be notified of this.

We encourage applicants with a disability, immigrant background or gaps in their CV to apply. If you tick this in the application, you may receive positive special treatment. We always invite at least one qualified applicant from each of these groups to an interview. 

More about the appointment process here.

About the employer:

The University of Bergen is a recognized educational and research institution, organized into seven faculties and around 54 institutes and academic centres. The campus is located in central parts of Bergen with university campuses at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad.

The Faculty of Science and Technology consists of seven institutes and a number of centres. Read more about faculty and belonging department.  

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