MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Geodynamics.

Professor Jorge P. Galve, from the Department of Geodynamics at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2022 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2022 call, please consult: http://sl.ugr.es/0cmA).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR) was founded in 1531 and is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 60,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 6,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 70 undergraduate degrees, 100 master’s degrees (9 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 127 departments and 22 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improving 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 internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2021 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the second highest ranked university in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0cmF), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. The UGR stands out in the specialties of Library & Information Science (position 36); Food Science & Technology (39) and Hospitality & Tourism Management (51-75), according to the latest edition of this prestigious ranking by specialties (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in Mathematics (76-100) and Mining & Mineral Engineering (76-100).

Additionally, the UGR has 7 researchers who are at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list (http://sl.ugr.es/0cmD), most of these related to the area of Computer Science. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 54th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its 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 67 projects, with total funding of 18.029 million euros, and for H2020, 119 projects with a total funding of around 29.233 million euros.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

Jorge P. Galve is part of the ARPA (Analisis del Relieve y Procesos Activos) research group, a multidisciplinary team devoted to tectonics and geohazards. The collaboration between the team members with expertise on Structural Geology, Geomorphology, Engineering Geology, Geophysics, GIS and Remote Sensing has been very fruitful and essential to innovate in their research projects. They combine geological and geomorphological mapping with structural and geotechnical surveys, ground exploration methods, quantitative landscape analysis and products of cutting edge techniques such as LiDAR, UAV Photogrammetry and InSAR in order to understand geological processes at very different scales and to identify and monitor geohazards associated to them. Currently, the group is running different research and academic projects at national and international level that allow the members of ARPA to study areas not only in Spain, but also in Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. The capacity of work, innovation and dynamism of the group is reflected in more than 70 SCI papers in the last five years. Since 2016 the group collaborates on an initiative of the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop a web-based platform for carrying out InSAR analysis through cloud computing: the Geohazards Exploitation Platform and Portal. This initiative has enabled ARPA to make a qualitative leap forward on the analysis of Earth surface processes.

Project description:

The successful candidate will investigate cutting-edge methods to study geomorphic hazards. These methods include advanced spatial data analyses and remote sensing techniques that our research team is integrating to perform comprehensive hazard and risk assessments. The candidate will focus his/her research in one of these methods or in developing action plans that may combine different techniques to assess in depth a specific geohazard. As regard the geohazards, we are specialized in subsidence and mass movements and, regarding the methods, our team works on (1) identification and characterization of sinkholes and landslides through morphometrical, geophysical and geotechnical techniques; (2) monitoring of movements using radar interferometry (DInSAR) and comparison of multi-temporal digital terrain models (generated through LiDAR o Structure-from-Motion techniques); (3) simulation of earth surface processes and application of probabilistic methods to generate susceptibility and hazard models; and (4) quantitative procedures to perform risk assessments. Our case studies are spread over three continents: Africa, America and Europe. Local researchers who collaborate with us will support the work of the candidate if he/she prefers to develop his/her project outside Spain. Research lines that test methodologies in different countries with different natural and socioeconomic settings are also very welcome.

Research Area:

• Environment and Geosciences (ENV)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Jorge P. Galve (jpgalve@ugr.es):

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)