JOB OFFERS

Job announcements for 2 PhD projects:

2 PhD scholarships are open within the Atmospheric Electricity group at the IAA-CSIC (Granada, Spain) of the EU Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network GRAIL (Gamma Radiation from the Atmosphere for Investigation and Learning)

The objective of GRAIL is to study high-energy phenomena, such as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), thunderstorm ground enhancements (TGEs), gamma-ray glows (GRGs) and flickering gamma-ray flashes (FGFs), emitted from thunderstorms as well as their effect on nature and technology.

GRAIL will conduct research into the fundamental physics of these high-energy phenomena by analyzing data from aircraft missions, conducting laboratory experiments as well as by developing and exploiting advanced simulation codes. Additionally, technological objectives include the preparation of new mission concepts as well as the development of new measurement technology.

The 2 IAA-CSIC PhD scholarships are:

1. Coarse-grained corona models for the study of energetic emissions at Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA - CSIC), Granada, Spain 

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This PhD project focuses on building new physical models for large-scale filamentary electrical discharges. Both in thundercloud environments and in laboratory experiments on frequently observes the formation of electrical discharges composed of a large number of thin, imperfectly conducting, propagating channels that interact with each other and with the environment. The statistical mechanics and electrodynamics of these systems are poorly understood and this project aims to fill this gap by building new models that derive their properties from well-founded microscopic knowledge. In this task, the project will rely heavily on advanced computer modelling and numerical simulation.

Application Deadline:   24 May 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid)

2. Physics-informed machine-learning for accelerating simulations of electron transport in thunderstorms at Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA - CSIC), Granada, Spain 

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The PhD project will explore the use of Machine Learning (ML) techniques to speed up the numerical simulation of generation and transport of energetic particles in a thunderstorm environment. Active thunderclouds contain significant populations of electrons, photons and positrons with energies exceeding several mega-electronvolts (MeV). Investigating these particles and their interactions with the electric environment is possible through computer-based models. However, the considerable number of particles and their long-range interactions make direct numerical simulation a challenge. Within this project we will explore whether modern ML techniques, such as the development of surrogate models for parts of the process, improve the efficiency of the simulations without sacrificing reliability and interpretability.

Application Deadline:   24 May 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid)