3-year postdoc position on data-driven hydro-meteorological forecasting at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

[Sebastian Lerch]

Dear HEPEX community,

We are inviting applications for a 3-year postdoc position on
data-driven hydro-meteorological forecasting within an interdisciplinary
project on AI-based flood prediction in small river basins in Germany.
The postdoc will be part of the working group of Peter Knippertz at the
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Troposphere Research at
KIT, and affiliated with the group of Sebastian Lerch at the Institute
of Statistics.

The project KI-HopE-De (KI-gestützte Hochwasserprognose für kleine
Einzugsgebiete in Deutschland) is funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry
for Education and Research (BMBF) and aims at improving short-term flood
forecasts in small river catchments in Germany through modern machine
learning (ML) methods. The focus is on interdisciplinary research and
development of a prototype, as well as on its transfer to practical and
operational applications, to eventually improve  public safety in
Germany. KI-HopE-De is a collaboration between researchers in hydrology,
meteorology, statistics and ML at KIT, the German Weather Service
(Deutscher Wetterdienst, DWD), and federal flood forecasting agencies.

The postdoc will focus on the development of ML-based post-processing
models for optimizing meteorological forecasts to serve as inputs to
hydrological flood forecasting models. We will explore in particular how
to best combine probabilistic input data from various sources and couple
ensemble weather forecasts to physics-based and data-driven hydrological
models.

We are looking for a highly motivated, independent candidate who is keen
to become part of an enthusiastic interdisciplinary team. We offer a
dynamic work environment at one of Germany’s foremost research
institutions for natural science and technology with attractive programs
for young researchers (http://www.khys.kit.edu) and interdisciplinary
collaboration (https://www.mathsee.kit.edu). Our groups collaborate with
leading forecasting centers and colleagues world-wide. This offers the
opportunity for research stays at different institutions, to attend
international conferences and workshops, and to connect to the
international research community.

Requirements
The position requires a PhD in Atmospheric Science, Applied Physics,
Mathematics, Statistics or equivalent. We expect the candidate to have
good programming skills in Python or R, and a strong interest in
hydrological applications, data processing, statistics and ML. The
candidate should be fluent in English, and should be willing to present
their research at international conferences and workshops.

Employment conditions
The position is offered for 3 years. It is available immediately and
will be filled as soon as possible. The position is remunerated
according to TV-L E13 100% (depending on the fulfillment of professional
and personal requirements) with extensive social and health care
benefits. We support diversity, equity, and inclusion and aim to balance
the number of female and male employees. We therefore explicitly
encourage applications from women as well as from all others who will
bring additional diversity to research and teaching.

To apply, please send a letter of motivation, a CV (incl. a list of
publications), and the names of two potential references to
Sebasti...@kit.edu until January 15, 2025. If you have any further
questions please contact Sebastian Lerch (Sebasti...@kit.edu) or
Peter Knippertz (Peter.K...@kit.edu).

Best regards
Sebastian Lerch

--
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Institute of Statistics (STAT)

Dr. Sebastian Lerch
Young Investigator Group Leader

Blücherstr. 17
D-76185 Karlsruhe, Germany

Phone: +49 6221 533285 or +49 721 608-48112
Fax: +49 6221 533298
E-mail: Sebastian.Lerch∂kit.edu
Web: https://sites.google.com/site/sebastianlerch/

KIT – The Research University in the Helmholtz Association