Research Fellow in weather forecast postprocessing with Machine Learning – School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences – 106116 – Grade 7 Full-time

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

The School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham (UoB, UK) is offering a fixed-term postdoctoral Research Fellow (RF) position for one year with a possible extension for one more year. The starting date is November or December 2025.

This post will advance the application of Machine Learning (ML) in weather forecasting and hydrological prediction. The Research Fellow will develop ML methods for postprocessing numerical ensemble weather forecasts over India to improve the skill of precipitation predictions and to generate hydrological forecasts.

The RF will be part of a research environment with strong ML activities. The post is mainly part of the project 'HEavy Precipitation forecast Post-processing over India with Machine Learning' (HEPPI-ML), which is funded through the 'Weather and Climate Science for Service Partnership' programme. It is also linked to the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) project 'Improving primary health care for patients with non-communicable diseases during severe flooding in India', and to several ML-based projects at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). There are also strong connections to the Institute for Data and Artificial Intelligence (IDAI) at UoB.

The researcher will work with Dr. Martin Widmann, Dr. Ruth Geen and Prof. Gregor Leckebusch at UoB, and Dr. Andrew Orr at BAS. There will be close collaboration with the Indian National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting and the UK Met Office, including project meetings in India and visits to the UK Met Office. HEPPI-ML is one out of several WCSSP-India projects and joint meetings will provide an opportunity for further networking.

The successful candidate will hold a PhD, or be very close to completion, in ML, statistics, meteorology, climate science, physics, or related fields. He/she will have substantial experience with ML, or with weather forecasting models. Essential programming skills are UNIX/LINUX, and programming languages such as Python, R or MATLAB.

Informal enquiries to Martin Widmann, email: m.widmann@bham.ac.uk

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy.