Predoctoral student (PhD) to develop AI-based pollutant emission inverse modelling with Earth Observations (R1)

Job Reference

428_26_ES_AQ_R1 Position

Predoctoral student (PhD) to develop AI-based pollutant emission inverse modelling with Earth Observations (R1) Closing Date

Monday, 12 October, 2026 Reference: 428_26_ES_AQ_R1 Job title: Predoctoral student (PhD) to develop AI-based pollutant emission inverse modelling with Earth Observations (R1)

About BSC

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R\&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

Look at the BSC experience:

BSC-CNS YouTube Channel

Let's stay connected with BSC Folks!

We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Context And Mission

We are looking for an atmospheric data scientist / modeler to join the Atmospheric Composition group within the Earth Sciences department at the BSC-CNS. Composed of about 50 members (research engineers, predocs, postdocs, senior scientists), the AC group aims at better understanding and predicting the spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric pollutants along with their effects upon air quality, weather and climate. This is addressed through the continuous development and application of numerical models over multiple scales, from weather to climate and from global to urban scales. The AC group is the research backbone of the Multiscale Online Non-hydrostatic AtmospheRe CHemistry model (MONARCH), a cutting-edge atmospheric composition model used for both research and operational activities, that contains advanced chemistry and aerosol packages coupled online with a meteorological driver. MONARCH is part of the ensemble Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) regional air quality forecasting system that provides operational forecast and analysis over Europe. CAMS is a key component of the European Union’s Earth observation system. MONARCH also runs operationally at the first World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Barcelona Dust Regional Center (BDRC) for Northern Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and the International Cooperative for Aerosol Prediction (ICAP) ensemble of global aerosol forecasts. The group also develops the HERMES emission model, which provides high-resolution anthropogenic emissions for Spain and Europe.

Anthropogenic emission inventories remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in air quality modelling: they are typically compiled with a delay of several years, rely on activity data and emission factors with large uncertainties, and poorly capture rapid changes in human activities. At the same time, the current and upcoming generation of Earth Observation (EO) missions – such as TROPOMI on Sentinel-5P or the geostationary Sentinel-4 – provide an unprecedented view of atmospheric pollutants at high spatial and temporal resolution. Exploiting these observations to constrain emissions through traditional inverse modelling approaches is, however, computationally very demanding.

To prepare the next generation of emission estimates supporting research- and policy-relevant applications, we are seeking a highly motivated predoctoral student (PhD, R1) to develop AI-based inverse modelling methods able to infer pollutant emissions (with a first focus on NOx) from satellite observations and MONARCH simulations. He/she will explore, adapt and improve cutting-edge deep learning approaches. Particular attention will be paid to the methodological aspects, including how to properly deal with the intrinsic gaps of EO data and the impact of the averaging kernels. This research will start focusing on the Iberian Peninsula but should then scale to European scale, and to additional species.

The successful applicant will be part of an active group of researchers focusing on leveraging deep learning technologies to address key scientific and policy-oriented challenges (currently about 7 people in the AC group, about 15-20 in the BSC Earth Sciences department). To conduct this research, he/she will have access to the groundbreaking High-Performance Computing infrastructure of BSC, notably MareNostrum 5, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, with a peak performance of 314 Pflops, 200 PB of storage and 400 PB of active archive, and an accelerate partition including 1120 nodes composed of 4 NVIDIA GPUs nodes. The candidate will also benefit from the collaboration with the emission modelling team of the AC group and the Computational Earth Sciences group of the department, composed of experts in HPC, software development, and AI.

Key Duties

• Develop and implement AI-based inverse modelling frameworks to estimate pollutant emissions from Earth Observation data and MONARCH simulations.
• Process and exploit satellite observations (e.g., TROPOMI/Sentinel-5P) together with ground-based measurements and bottom-up emission inventories (e.g., CAMS-REG, HERMES).
• Train and validate models using synthetic MONARCH experiments.
• Collaborate closely with atmospheric scientists and emission modellers, and participate to the intellectual life of the group.
• Present model developments and research findings, contribute to scientific publications, and other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Education
  • MSc in computer science, Earth sciences, applied mathematics, physics, or related discipline.
• Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience
  • Good experience in EO and atmospheric sciences
  • Good background in deep learning, machine learning for inverse problems.
  • Excellent programming skills in Python.
• Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience
  • Experience working in HPC environment
  • Experience with satellite remote sensing data of atmospheric composition (e.g., TROPOMI) will be valued
  • Experience in atmospheric chemistry, emission inventories or chemistry-transport modelling will be valued
• Competences
  • Very good interpersonal skills
  • Fluency in English
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to take initiative, prioritize and work under set deadlines
  • Ability to work both independently and within a team

Conditions

• The position will be located at BSC within the Earth Sciences Department
• We offer a full-time contract (35h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures
• Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration
• Holidays: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement
• Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona
• Starting date: 01/11/2026

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

• A full CV in English including contact details
• A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

• Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points
• Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.

For more information, please follow this link.

Deadline

The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.

OTM-R principles for selection processes

BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.

BSC-CNS is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We are pleased to consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or any other basis protected by applicable state or local law.

For more information follow this link