PhD, "Statistics of Extremes", at TU Delft, Netherlands

In the project "Probabilistic forecasts of extreme weather utilizing advanced methods from extreme value theory" funded by the Dutch Technology Foundation (STW<http://www.stw.nl/>), there is a job opening for a PhD student. Following is some information about this position.

Duration of contract: 4 years
Salary scale: E2125 to E2717 per month gross

Job description
The research project "Probabilistic forecasts of extreme weather utilizing advanced methods from extreme value theory" is funded by STW and is a collaboration between the statistics section, Delft University of Technology and the R&D Weather and Climate Modelling department of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).

There is an urgent need for statistically sound prediction methods for extreme weather, which often has a strongly disruptive societal impact. The PhD candidate will develop advanced statistical post-processing methods to estimate the probability of extreme weather, utilizing large meteorological data sets and extreme value theory, and will verify these newly developed methods. It is expected that the new statistical models will be used by several partners, including KNMI, to improve their short-term forecasts and warnings of extreme weather. The PhD candidate will work in close collaboration with colleagues from KNMI and communicate regularly with the partners on project progress. The student will be supervised by Prof. G. Jongbloed (TU Delft), Dr. J. Cai (TU Delft) and Dr. M.J. Schmeits (KNMI).

The position includes modest teaching duties. The candidate is expected to finish his/her project with a PhD thesis and disseminate the results through publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at international conferences.

Requirements
The candidate possesses an MSc degree in mathematics (specialisation statistics or probability theory) or econometrics, preferably with a strong curriculum in extreme value theory. Some experience with handling and analysing large data sets would also be advantageous. (S)he must be highly motivated and interested in meteorology and have some experience in (statistical) programming (e.g. in R). In addition, we require very good communication skills and fluent spoken and written English.


How to apply
Applications should include a letter of application emphasising your specific interest in and qualifications for this position, a detailed CV, a publication list if applicable and contact details of at least two references. Additionally, a transcript of the course programmes attended and the grades obtained is required. Please e-mail your application by 15 December 2015 to drs. P.T.M. van den Bergh <mailto:Hr-eemcs@tudelft.nl>. When applying for this position, please refer to vacancy number EWI2015-42.



Information
For more information about this position, please contact Dr. J. Cai (J.J.Cai@tudelft.nl<mailto:J.J.Cai@tudelft.nl>) or Prof. G. Jongbloed (G.Jongbloed@tudelft.nl<mailto:G.Jongbloed@tudelft.nl>).