Scientific Developer/Researcher in Atmospheric Transport Modelling

About the position

Does your passion lie in scientific development and programming in an environment of high-quality research and operational tools? Then join our team at the Meteorological Institute on dispersion of radioactivity, volcanic ash and air pollution.

We have a position open as researcher/developer/scientific programmer in the field of atmospheric transport modelling related to nuclear accidents, volcanic eruptions and air pollution. The person filling the position is expected to contribute to the technical and scientific developments of the emergency modelling, as well as the development of evaluation tools (comparing model results to observations) related to atmospheric dispersion in general (including air quality and climate modelling results). Presently, new AI based tools are under development and the candidate is also expected to take part in this activity.

MET Norway provides the society at large with meteorological services for both civilian and military purposes. Weather forecasting, on demand services, climate monitoring and research and development within meteorology and oceanography are prioritized activities.

Our main goal is to help protect life and property.

Does your passion lie in scientific development and programming in an environment of high-quality research and operational tools? Then join our team at the Meteorological Institute on dispersion of radioactivity, volcanic ash and air pollution.

We have a position open as researcher/developer/scientific programmer in the field of atmospheric transport modelling related to nuclear accidents, volcanic eruptions and air pollution. The person filling the position is expected to contribute to the technical and scientific developments of the emergency modelling, as well as the development of evaluation tools (comparing model results to observations) related to atmospheric dispersion in general (including air quality and climate modelling results). Presently, new AI based tools are under development and the candidate is also expected to take part in this activity.

MET Norway provides the society at large with meteorological services for both civilian and military purposes. Weather forecasting, on demand services, climate monitoring and research and development within meteorology and oceanography are prioritized activities.

Our main goal is to help protect life and property.

To achieve this we run a suite of forecast models for the atmosphere as well as a number of downstream services based on these forecasts. An important task is the development, running and maintenance of our suite of dispersion models for our emergency preparedness services. These include models for the dispersion of radioactive material and volcanic ash in the atmosphere to support and serve the national authorities on radioactivity (DSA) and civil aviation (Luftfartsttilsynet).

Modelling the dispersion of radioactivity came in focus at MET after the Chernobyl accident and models were developed already in the nineties. As an example, dispersion calculations are presently carried out for all the Ukrainian nuclear reactors four times per day to be prepared if an incident would occur. After the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010 that caused large disruptions in civil aviation, MET also developed a dispersion model for volcanic ash as part of the preparedness modelling system.

Modelling of the formation and dispersion of air pollution on a local, regional and global scale has been a central task for MET Norway for many years. MET Norway also delivers regional air quality forecasting in the European CAMS project ( and we are responsible for the local air quality forecasting for Norway ( and yr.no).

Responsibility

The successful applicants will work within the field of dispersion modelling in the atmosphere for contingency/emergency preparedness (e.g. dispersion of ash plumes and radioactivity). She/he will contribute to the development of our technical systems supporting our transport models as well as the dissemination of model results, technical implementation and advanced scientific diagnosis of results both independently and in cooperation with others. He/she will also work on the evaluation of air pollution and climate models in our group, contributing to development of tools/scripts (in Python) that will be used for diagnosing air quality and climate model results.

Our scientific activities will partly depend on external funding, and the candidate might contribute to the acquisition of relevant projects.

Qualification requirements

PhD or MSc in meteorology, oceanography, physics, applied mathematics, or computer science

Documented skills in scientific programming

Familiarity with UNIX/LINUX, and both strongly and weakly typed programming languages (Python and Fortran or C)

The candidate must have the ability to work independently while also collaborating in teams. Experience from scientific collaboration is important

The working language at MET Norway is Norwegian, and fluency in Norwegian is an advantage. Candidates must be able to work effectively in English and demonstrate fluency, written and oral. Foreign candidates must be willing to learn basic Norwegian

Experience with the following is an advantage:

Experience with atmospheric modelling

Meteorological/physical/chemical processes relevant for air pollution modelling

Assessing high volumes of data and plotting of informative graphs

Standardized data formats such as NetCDF/CF, HDF5, ZARR

High Performance computing environments, parallelization and optimization of model code

Distribution of data through web-services (REST, OGC-EDR)

High Availability services

Front-end development (ECMAScript, TypeScript, React, Vite, Bootstrap)

Cloud-management, cloud-storage, cloud-computing

Application of machine learning to physical/chemical processes

Project management of scientific projects

Personal skills

Strong motivation and personal capabilities

Creativity and ability to work result-oriented, accurately and structured.

Analytical ability, ability to work independently as well as the ability to be a good team player

Willingness to learn Norwegian

Excellent grades from master and/or bachelor

We offer

A demanding but meaningful job in a modern technological environment.

Flexible working conditions in a pleasant working environment.

Salary range NOK 520 300 - NOK 800 000 per annum depending on qualifications. For particularly qualified candidates, a higher salary may be considered.

Membership in the governmental pension fund, SPK (2% deducted from gross salary), one of the best pension funds in Norway.

Insurances and mortgage through SPK.

Possibility of one hour of training during working hours per week.

The first 6 months is a mutual trial period.