Job description

Job summary

An opportunity has arisen for a Research Associate to work on a funded research project on the impact of climate change on infectious diseases. The post is split between the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment.

Quantifying the potential public health impact of climate change on infectious diseases is an increasing priority for the global health policymaking community. While several studies have concluded that infectious disease risks may increase overall, much uncertainty remains, with substantial heterogeneity by region and disease expected. Furthermore, the likely impact of increasingly frequent extreme weather events on infectious disease risk remains poorly characterised.

This post will lie within and contribute to the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium (VIMC)’s new research programme on the impact of climate change on vaccine-preventable diseases. VIMC is directed by Professor Caroline Trotter, with Professor Neil Ferguson as Deputy Director and Principal Investigator of its climate change research programme.

The successful applicant will be able to combine experience of climate modelling and/or data analysis and current Bayesian statistical methods to develop a high-performance inferential platform combining climate data and projections with epidemiological data and disease transmission models

This is a fixed term appointment for 3 years.

Duties and responsibilities

The post-holder will identify, develop and implement suitable techniques for the collation and analysis of climate data, including historical observations and climate model simulations. Specifically, the post-holder will develop novel mechanistic models of transmission and parameterise them using historical surveillance data. They will use a variety of statistical and/or machine learning methods to explore the relationship between disease transmission and climatic variables

Essential requirements

• Hold a PhD in atmospheric physics, climate change, or a closely related discipline.


• Practical experience within a research environment and / or publication in relevant and refereed journals


• Experience in analysis of climate data and/or climate model projections


• Experience in coding analysis pipelines


• Knowledge of statistical methods for analysis of climate data or climate projections, including bias correction


• Proven research skills


• Ability to develop and apply new concepts


• Creative approach to problem-solving


• Excellent verbal communication skills and the ability to deal with a wide range of people


• Excellent written communication skills and the ability to write clearly and succinctly for publication


• Ability to organise own work with minimal supervision and prioritise in response to deadlines


• Willingness to work as part of a team and to be open-minded and cooperative


• Flexible attitude towards work


• Discipline and regard for confidentiality and security at all times


• Willingness to undertake any necessary training for the role


• Willingness to travel both within the United Kingdom and abroad to conduct research and attend conferences

Further information

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant on the Research Assistant salary scales.

For any queries or informal enquiries about the post, please contact vimc@imperial.ac.uk. 

Further information is available in the job description.

Documents

• Job-Description-Research-Associate-VIMC-CC-climate.pdf