Position: PhD Researcher in AI weather prediction and climate-change attribution of extreme events, full-time and on-site in Madrid, Spain. Contract duration is four years, with a start date in Spring 2027.
The position is part of the ADAPT-X project, funded by Comunidad de Madrid through the César Nombela Talent Attraction Programme. The researcher will join the Physics of Climate and Climate Change group at IGEO and the STREAM research group at Complutense University of Madrid, and will be enrolled in the university's PhD Programme in Physics.
Research responsibilities: Investigating the application of AI weather prediction models to extreme events such as heatwaves, heavy precipitation, droughts and severe storms, including:
- Evaluating the predictive skill of AI weather models and their representation of extreme events.
- Developing factual and counterfactual forecast experiments under present-day and pre-industrial climate conditions.
- Assessing the physical consistency of climate-change attribution results.
- Comparing AI-based attribution with physics-based numerical weather prediction simulations.
- Applying atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamic diagnostics to extreme weather events.
The research focus will be adapted to the candidate's background and interests. Supervision: Dr. Bernat Jiménez Esteve (supervisor) and Dr. David Barriopedro (co-supervisor).
How to apply: Send the application by email to bernatji@ucm.es with the subject: ADAPT-X PhD application – [Candidate name], as a single PDF file containing:
- Curriculum Vitae (research, programming experience and publications, where applicable).
- A motivation letter of approximately one page.
- Bachelor's and Master's transcripts.
- Names and contact details of two potential referees.
Deadline: 31 December 2026. Applications submitted after this date may still be considered until the position is filled.