Research Engineer in micro-scale air pollution simulation in urban areas (RE1)

Job Reference

323_26_CASE_LSCFD_RE1

Position

Research Engineer in micro-scale air pollution simulation in urban areas (RE1)

Closing Date

Friday, 17 July, 2026

Reference: 323_26_CASE_LSCFD_RE1

Job title: Research Engineer in micro-scale air pollution simulation in urban areas (RE1)

About BSC

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) is the leading supercomputing center in Spain. It houses MareNostrum, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, was a founding and hosting member of the former European HPC infrastructure PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), and is now hosting entity for EuroHPC JU, the Joint Undertaking that leads large-scale investments and HPC provision in Europe. The mission of BSC is to research, develop and manage information technologies in order to facilitate scientific progress. BSC combines HPC service provision and R&D into both computer and computational science (life, earth and engineering sciences) under one roof, and currently has over 1000 staff from 60 countries.

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We are particularly interested for this role in the strengths and lived experiences of women and underrepresented groups to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights in science and IT research. In instances of equal merit, the incorporation of the under-represented sex will be favoured.

We promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, fostering an environment where each and every one of us is appreciated for who we are, regardless of our differences.

If you consider that you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to continue applying for the job offer. We value diversity of experiences and skills, and you could bring unique perspectives to our team.

Context And Mission

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for air pollution simulation in urban areas has seen rapid growth in the past years. One of the advantages of CFD is that it can provide extensive data on the primary variables (velocity components, pressure, contaminant concentration, etc.) in the whole domain in a controlled scenario enabling systematic parametric studies. However, the accuracy and reliability of CFD simulations are of concern and solution verification, and validation studies are imperative. Thus, the main role of the current CFD tools available is to complement on-site measurements. The main bottlenecks are the boundary conditions and the empiricism used in the CFD models.

In the present project, BSC can provide two key ingredients to enable scale-resolving CFD to assess air pollution in urban areas at the micro-scale level.

Key Duties

To develop scale-resolving air pollution solvers based on the multi-physics SOD2D software

To develop a novel data assimilation methodology to integrate on-site pollution and air measurements with climatological data into the CFD solver

To give support to the HARMONIE project including the experimental campaign

To participate in the rest of the CFD activities of the LS/CFD team in CASE

Requirements

Education

Bachelor in computational fluid dynamics

Essential Knowledge and Professional Experience

Experience in CFD development ( at least 3 years)

Knowledge in large eddy simulation models ( at least 3 years)

Experience in large-scale simulation at high speed (wall models for LES, complex mesh generation, industrial simulations, etc. ) ( at least 3 years)

Understanding of HPC clusters at user level and experience programming MPI ( at least 3 years).

Good programming level (python, C, Fortran, C++, etc.) ( at least 4 years)

Additional Knowledge and Professional Experience

Good writing and oral skills in English

CFD development knowledge

Experience in large-scale CFD computations (meshing, running in HPC systems and post-processing large data sets)

Turbulence modelling (LES and RANS modelling, including wall modelling)

Experience in European projects

Competences

A proactive, result-oriented, and analytical approach to complex scientific problems.

The ability to work effectively both as part of an interdisciplinary team and independently.

The ability to work effectively both in a multicultural enviroment

Conditions

The position will be located at BSC within the CASE Department

We offer a full-time contract (35h/week), a good working environment, a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructure, flexible working hours, extensive training plan, restaurant tickets, private health insurance, support to the relocation procedures

Duration: Open-ended contract due to technical and scientific activities linked to the project and budget duration

Holidays: 22 days of holidays + 6 personal days + 24th and 31st of December per our collective agreement

Salary: we offer a competitive salary commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate and according to the cost of living in Barcelona

Starting date: 01/08/2026

Applications procedure and process

All applications must be submitted via the BSC website and contain:

A full CV in English including contact details

A cover/motivation letter with a statement of interest in English, clearly specifying for which specific area and topics the applicant wishes to be considered. Additionally, two references for further contacts must be included. Applications without this document will not be considered.

Development of the recruitment process

The selection will be carried out through a competitive examination system ("Concurso-Oposición"). The recruitment process consists of two phases:

Curriculum Analysis: Evaluation of previous experience and/or scientific history, degree, training, and other professional information relevant to the position. - 40 points

Interview phase: The highest-rated candidates at the curriculum level will be invited to the interview phase, conducted by the corresponding department and Human Resources. In this phase, technical competencies, knowledge, skills, and professional experience related to the position, as well as the required personal competencies, will be evaluated. - 60 points. A minimum of 30 points out of 60 must be obtained to be eligible for the position.

The recruitment panel will be composed of at least three people, ensuring at least 25% representation of women.

In accordance with OTM-R principles, a gender-balanced recruitment panel is formed for each vacancy at the beginning of the process. After reviewing the content of the applications, the panel will begin the interviews, with at least one technical and one administrative interview. At a minimum, a personality questionnaire as well as a technical exercise will be conducted during the process.

The panel will make a final decision, and all individuals who participated in the interview phase will receive feedback with details on the acceptance or rejection of their profile.

At BSC, we seek continuous improvement in our recruitment processes. For any suggestions or comments/complaints about our recruitment processes, please contact recruitment [at] bsc [dot] es.

For more information, please follow this link.

Deadline

The vacancy will remain open until a suitable candidate has been hired. Applications will be regularly reviewed and potential candidates will be contacted.

OTM-R principles for selection processes

BSC-CNS is committed to the principles of the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers of the European Commission and the Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment principles (OTM-R). This is applied for any potential candidate in all our processes, for example by creating gender-balanced recruitment panels and recognizing career breaks etc.

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