Postdoctoral position in climate and health research
We offer a full-time postdoctoral position (2-year contract) in the field of environmental epidemiology. The candidate will join the research team of Dr. Aleš Urban at the Dpt. of Water Resources and Environmental Modelling at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic.
Research topic: The research will be part of a two-year ERC-CZ project CLARA (“Climate change impact on seasonal mortality variations”) funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. Within the project, we study how climate variability affects seasonal mortality patterns in time and space, with a focus on the interaction between climate variables (air temperature, thermal comfort indices) and infectious disease dynamics (respiratory infections, vector-borne diseases). The aim of the project is to consolidate our research group and prepare a new ERC grant proposal that will be submitted within 2 years. Aleš Urban is a member of the MCC collaborative research network, which ensures access to the world’s largest mortality database (https://mccstudy.lshtm.ac.uk) and broad international collaboration.
Job description: The work will be mostly computational and will involve the use of state-of-the-art statistical techniques in environmental epidemiology (in R–time series Poisson regression models, etc.). The main tasks of the postdoctoral researcher include also the publication of the project research outcomes in Q1 journals (at least one paper as the first author and collaboration on other papers as a co-author.
Requirements
- PhD in environmental sciences, climate sciences, environmental epidemiology, geography, biostatistics, or related field.
- Ability to develop scientific questions and analyses, publish peer-reviewed papers, handle multiple co-authors, and coordinate and work with international collaborators.
- Good experience with statistical analyses and programming in R, Python, or similar environments.
- Some experience with climate datasets (e.g. ERA5, EURO-CORDEX, CMIP6 and other datasets by Copernicus climate data store - https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/#!/home) is an advantage.
We offer
- Starting gross salary of 66,000 CZK/month (ca 2,670 EUR as of Jun 2024), which is a 51,000 CZK/month net.
- Medical insurance and (Czech) social security as a standard part of the employment contract.
- 25 days of paid holiday per year. Motivational bonus payments for high-quality publications.
- Funds for travel to conferences and workshops abroad. Funds for additional training.
- State-of-the-art scientific and computing equipment, software, access to journals and scientific databases, and comfortable office space.
- Subsidized lunches at the university canteen (Menza) + additional CZU benefit system (LINK)
- International working environment (the working language is English), green, spacious campus in Suchdol in the outskirts of Prague, 30 min to Prague city center by public transportation or bike, 15 min walk to several natural protected areas. The campus has various sports facilities, including a swimming pool, gym, athletic track, and indoor and outdoor playfields.
- Preferred starting date is October–December 2024; later dates are negotiable.
Applications
To apply, please send by email (envi.health@fzp.czu.cz), in a single .pdf:
- Motivation letter (1-2 pages) describing your expertise and research interests, stating why you see yourself as a good fit and where you see yourself and your research in the future.
- Your CV, including your publications and any other relevant outputs (code repositories, reports, your personal website, etc.).
- Contact details for 2-3 academic referees, e.g., your former supervisor, boss, or collaborator.
- Your preferred starting date.
- Put “CLARA postdoc” and your name in the subject of the email and the name of the .pdf. file.
Review of applications will begin on the 15th of August 2024 and will continue until the position is filled. Selected candidates will be invited to a video interview.