Research Fellow in Next-Generation Urban Climate Modelling Full-time NEW

Research Fellow in Next-Generation Urban Climate Modelling

The Research Fellow is responsible for the scientific integrity and the institutional memory of SUEWS through a period of substantial technical change. They will establish the evidence that the model is correct. A working benchmark already tests each release against observations; the postholder takes it from one reference site to a set spanning contrasting climates, decides what counts as a pass, and sets out in one place, for the first time, what the model assumes, where those assumptions hold and where they do not. They will also capture reasoning that has never been written down, through a structured interview programme with the model's developers and long-standing users: why particular parameterisations were chosen, what was tried and abandoned, and how the science was actually done. That material becomes the training and onboarding route through which new contributors join the project. The postholder will work closely with the PI and with the Research Software Engineer at Reading, and is expected to publish from this work and present it internationally.

You will hold a PhD in a discipline relevant to urban climate, environmental modelling or scientific computing, and be able to move confidently between observational data and model output. You will be confident working with scientific code and data, and will have a track record of publishing your own research. We care more about whether you can tell a right result from a wrong one than about how much code you have written, and we expect and welcome the use of AI coding assistants. You will write clearly for readers of very different backgrounds, from model developers to local authority users, and you will be comfortable drawing knowledge out of experienced colleagues and recording it faithfully. We are interested in capability rather than a particular career path: urban climate expertise reaches this field from architecture, public health, engineering and computing as often as from meteorology, and we welcome applications from any of those routes. Please note that this post leads validation, documentation and knowledge transfer rather than core code development, which is led by the Research Software Engineer at the University of Reading.

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are: 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days per annum) per annum, Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme, Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE), Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan, Immigration loan, Relocation scheme for certain posts, On-site gym, Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay, Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service, Discounted medical insurance. To find out more, visit www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits

We know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion