MSCA-IF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Theoretical and Cosmos Physics

Professor Javier Almendros, from the Department of Theoretical and Cosmos Physics at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) in 2019 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (more information: http://sl.ugr.es/09Qg).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. It serves more than 60000 students per year, including many foreign students, as UGR is the leader host institution in the Erasmus program. UGR, featuring 3650 professors and more than 2000 auxiliary personnel, offers a total of 75 degrees through its 112 departments and 28 centers.

UGR is also a leading institution in research, located in the top 5/10 of Spanish universities by a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, or international funding. UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking (http://www.arwu.org/), and it is also well recognized for its web presence (http://www.4icu.org/top200/).

Internationally, we bet decidedly by our participation in the calls of H2020, both at partner and coordination. For the duration of the Seventh Framework Programme, the UGR has obtained a total of 66 projects, with total funding of 17.97 million euros, and for H2020, until 2015, more than 25 projects with total funding of more than 6 million euros. Our more than 3,000 researchers are grouped into 365 research groups covering all scientific fields and disciplines.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group

The Andalusian Institute of Geophysics is a research institute of University of Granada, Spain, focused on the subject of Geophysics, and especially on Seismology. It comprises about 30 researchers and technicians. Research areas include Applied Geophysics, Earthquake Hazards, Seismotectonics, Geodynamics, Structure of the Earth, and Volcano Seismology. The candidate will work in the Andalusian Institute of Geophysics, within the framework of the BRAVOSEIS project (http://wpd.ugr.es/~bravoseis). BRAVOSEIS is a 4-year research project intended to investigate the submarine volcanoes and rift dynamics of the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. The project is leaded by University of Granada, with 8 researchers belonging to the Andalusian Institute of Geophysics. However, the research group is much wider and include collaborations with other Spanish groups, as well as researchers from USA, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, etc. Special mention is to be made to the University of Washington, Queens College – CUNY, and NOAA from USA, and the Alfred Wegener Institute and GFZ from Germany, who are strongly involved in the instrumental deployments. The candidate is expected to join the BRAVOSEIS team at the Andalusian Institute of Geophysics, although international collaborations will be required as well.

Project description

BRAVOSEIS (BRAnsfield VOlcano SEISmology) is a research project intended to investigate the submarine volcanoes and rift dynamics of the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica. The Bransfield Strait is a highly evolved continental rift, whose origin is subject to wide discussions. The extension and aperture of the rift is associated to volcanic phenomena, as evidenced by several volcanic edifices. There are some studies about the volcanic islands (e.g. Deception Island), but very little is known about the volcanic seamounts. In this project, we wish to understand the crustal structure and tectonic regime in the Bransfield Strait region and elucidate among competing theories; image the magmatic reservoirs and feeding systems related to the submarine volcanic structures; and assess the internal processes occurring at the submarine volcanoes of the Bransfield Strait. However, the seismic coverage in this remote area of the planet is very poor. To overcome this difficulty, between 2017 and 2019 the BRAVOSEIS team deployed a temporary seismic network composed of 45 instruments, including 15 broadband seismometers, 24 OBS, and 6 hydrophones. This network entails an enormous improvement in the quantity and quality of seismic data in the region. All instruments will be recording simultaneously for 1 year, and will be recovered in February 2020. The candidate is expected to lead the analysis of this dataset, integrating both land and marine seismic data. The pursuit should focus on the regional dynamics and crustal structure of the Bransfield Strait area, undertaking tasks such as precise earthquake locations, determinations of focal mechanisms and moment tensors, 3D mapping of crustal discontinuities (Moho, LAB), or multi-scale seismic tomography.

Research Area

Environmental Sciences and Chemistry (ENV-CHE)

Physics and Mathematics (PHY-MAT)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Javier Almendros (vikingo@ugr.es):

• CV

Letter of recommendation (optional)