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 2020 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (more information: http://sl.ugr.es/0aNV).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the UGR’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The 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://sl.ugr.es/0aw0). The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) places the UGR in 268th position in the world and as the 4th highest ranked University in Spain, reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings, the UGR is outstanding in Documentation (ranked in the 36th in the world) or Food science technology (ranked 37th in the world), Mathematics and Computer Science (ranked among the top 76-100 in the world).

The UGR has 4 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list in the Computer Science area. With regard to broader subject fields, the UGR is ranked in 45th position in the universities worldwide in the discipline of Engineering. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i) taking 36th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe. Internationally, we bet decidedly by our participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last two Framework Programmes, the UGR has obtained a total of 66 projects, with total funding of 18.02 million euros, and for H2020, 80 projects with total funding around 20.6 million euros.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group

The Andalusian Institute of Geophysics (http://iagpds.ugr.es) is a UGR research institute that brings together researchers from several areas including Physics and Geology, with a common interest in Geophysics and especially in Seismology. It is a small but well consolidated group, comprising about fifteen researchers, eight technicians, and a variable number of graduate students and postdocs. The Institute maintains strong links and collaborations with researchers in Spain and elsewhere. Currently, the main research lines include Applied Geophysics, Seismic Engineering and Hazards Prevention, Structure of the Earth, Seismo-tectonics, and Volcano Seismology. The group has an outstanding research record with more than 400 papers published in international peer-reviewed journals, about a hundred public-funded research projects and contracts, scores of PhD Theses, etc. The Institute runs the Andalusian Seismic Network, a dense seismic network composed by ~25 seismic stations distributed around Southern Spain. This network complements the National Seismic Network and sets this seismically active region among the best-monitored areas, opening a variety of opportunities for research. Additionally, the Institute has a pool of seismic instruments for temporary projects and experiments. In recent years, these experiments included intensive deployments in Southern Iberia, and the study of the structure and dynamics of active volcanos all over the world, from the Canary Islands and the Italian volcanoes Stromboli and Etna, to Deception Island in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

Project description

The MSCA-IF fellow will work in the framework of the BRAVOSEIS project, a research project leaded by the Andalusian Institute of Geophysics (http://wpd.ugr.es/~bravoseis), in collaboration with a multidisciplinary group of Spanish and international researchers. This project focus on understanding the structure and dynamics of two target submarine volcanoes and the regional tectonic setting in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica, a back-arc basin separating the South Shetland microplate from the Antarctic plate. Several competing theories have been proposed to explain the origin of this structure, none of which fully covers all existing evidences. Between 2018 and 2020, we deployed a dense, amphibious seismic network combining seismometers on land, ocean-bottom seismometers, and hydrophone moorings. Additionally, in 2019 we performed marine geophysics studies including gravity and magnetic measurements, seismic reflection profiles, and bathymetry. The geophysics profiles are densest above two submarine volcanoes (Orca and Humpback) located in the rift. With this new dataset, we plan to address several objectives. At a regional level, we will assess the thickness and structure of the crust, the interactions among the different tectonic units, and the origin and evolution of the rift. At a local level, we will investigate the current state of volcanic activity of seamounts along the rift, focusing on event types, spectral characteristics, spatial and temporal distributions of seismicity, etc. Additionally, we will build high-resolution models of the volcanic edifices, which will help us understand their structure and origin, as well as their peculiarities in comparison with other ocean rift volcanoes. During this work, the fellow will interact with both the Seismo-tectonics and Volcano Seismology groups.

Research Area

Environment and Geosciences (ENV) and Physics (PHY)

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

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)