Post-doctoral Research Associate in Ice-Sheet Modelling and Data Assimilation

Job Description

Grade UE07: £41,064 - £48,822 per annum, pro rata if part time

School of GeoSciences / CSE

Full time: 35 hours per week

Fixed term: until 1 October 2028

The Opportunity

Where Curiosity Becomes Impact.

There’s a career for everyone at the University of Edinburgh. We can offer opportunities for you to develop in your career and make a real difference in the communities around us while contributing to the world at large. In Edinburgh, you are in one of the world’s most attractive cities with active arts and social sectors, while working in a University that has made significant contributions to society, medicine, physics and teaching for over four centuries. Our people have helped create the modern world and are working on more ground-breaking technologies and practices.

The University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We look for the best in the field across all disciplines and provide a working environment where researchers can develop their careers and passion for their chosen subject area.

As a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Ice-sheet Modelling and Data Assimilation, you will use advanced data-science technology to improve projections of ice loss from Antarctica, as well as use data-driven techniques to uncover poorly understood ice-sheet physics which will play a role in the stabili

ty of Antarctica in centuries to come. As part of the NERC Pushing the Frontiers Grant BISTO (Better Ice Sheet forecasts via Transient assimilation and refined Ocean forcing), you will join a team which includes the British Antarctic Survey (Cambridge) and Dartmouth College (US). You will work closely with collaborators within and outside Edinburgh to deliver cutting edge research which will benefit not only the scientific community but the global community as well. Additionally, you will be embedded within a world-leading Cryospheric research group, providing opportunities for further collaboration and career development.

People have always been at the heart of our work. As part of the University, you are a part of our community. We are looking for people with drive, determination, and a passion for what they do

A career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:

• Professional development and subject matter expertise
• Leading-edge research
• Opportunities for impactful publication
• Flexible/hybrid where the roles allow
• Cross University opportunities
• Responsibility and autonomy
  
  

This post is full-time (35 hours per week); however, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

For further detail regarding the post, responsibilities, and what we are looking for, please view the full job description

How To Apply

Please include the following documents in your application:

• CV
• Cover letter
  
  

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.
  
  

Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates, and wish to particularly encourage applications from women and from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, who are underrepresented in our area.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages .

The University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant. Please note if the role is offered on a part-time basis, it may result in sponsorship being dependent on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant or the role no longer meeting the Home Office’s criteria for sponsorship.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 23 February 2026.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm UK time. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.

Interviews will be held early March.

About Us

As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.

About The Team

The School of GeoSciences explores the factors and forces that shape our world. The School aims to understand the world through fundamental curiosity-driven research and to support prescient decision-making at individual to global scales. We undertake world-leading research; offer new ways of understanding natural and social drivers of change; provide inter-and trans-disciplinary solutions; and work in partnership to improve livelihoods and explore ways to manage the environment that are both sustainable and socially equitable.

With over 500 academics, researchers and research students, we are the largest and most successful interdisciplinary grouping of geoscientists and geographers in the UK. Research activity is coordinated within three main Research Institutes – Global Change, Earth and Planetary Science, and Geography and the Lived Environment – and within smaller

research groupings that reach across and beyond the School.

A distinctive feature of the School is the combination of academic strength, intellectual breadth and societal relevance. Our interdisciplinary research and teaching builds on established core disciplines (ecology, environmental sciences, geography, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography) to provide a variety of approaches to understanding the world (including, for example, system-scale modelling, process studies and the development of urban and social theory). The School’s research covers fundamental ‘blue-skies’ questions, as well as having application to key societal challenges including inequality and vulnerability; urban precarity; nature and cultural meaning; development and sustainability; climate and environmental change; energy, food and water security; health and wellbeing; natural resources; and natural hazards.

The School of GeoSciences aims to recognise and value diversity in our staff and students, and to support flexible and family-friendly working.

More details about the School is available from http://www.ed.ac.uk/geosciences