Funded PhD position to work with the URBAG team in atmospheric modeling

URBAG PhD position description:

Human activities are predominant in urban and suburban areas leading to the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) produced by the combustion of fossil fuels for transport or energy generation and other anthropogenic activities. Urban areas are major sources of fossil fuel CO2, one of the most relevant drivers of climate change, accounting for up to 76%  of global CO2 emissions. As a response to mitigate these impacts, local governments put their efforts in the design of new policies targeting urban planning and infrastructure such as implementing urban green infrastructures (GI). The main goal of this PhD position is to assess the impacts of green infrastructure to reduce GHG in urban areas.

To achieve this goal, the candidate will work with the Weather and Research Forecasting model (WRF) coupled with chemical transport (WRF-Chem) with the GHG tracer option called WRF-GHG coupled to the UCM BEP+BEM (Building Effect Parameterization coupled with Building Energy Model). The candidate will work through simulations for various case study cities, including the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, for which the URBAG group has implemented a GHG monitoring network which will serve to validate the model. The work will include evaluating various scenarios of land use to a) Compare the variations in seasonal patterns of the meteorology for each scenario against the reference scenario to understand the effect of the GI, and b) attribute the changes in concentrations to different emission processes (photosynthesis, respiration, soil uptake and anthropogenic activities) and, c) determine which are the best combinations of green spaces and urban agriculture in terms of thermal comfort, and GHG emissions.

The PhD position is funded by the LaCaixa INPhINIT doctoral fellowships offered through the doctoral programme of Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB). The PhD programme offers the opportunity to start an environmental science research career in a stimulating, dynamic, international, interdisciplinary and highly qualified working environment. It is adapted to the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA), leading to an EU officially-recognized doctoral degree. ICTA-UAB also offers additional training courses on a yearly basis, specifically devoted to PhD students and early-career postdoctoral researchers and covering topics such as team building and team collaboration for research, scientific writing, effective communication, planning your academic and non-academic career.

Deadline for application: 25 January 2023, at 2 pm Peninsular Spain

To start September 2023

For more information about these fellowships including requirements, click here

To apply for this position, click here 

If you have any questions, please contact alba.badia@uab.cat