Who are we?
We are the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) – the UK’s centre of excellence for oceanographic sciences. We are a national research organisation, delivering integrated marine science and technology from the coast to the deep ocean.
We are made up of a dynamic and vibrant community whose focus is on improving the world in which we live. Our work is balanced by our strong sense of purpose, values and behaviours and an unwavering commitment to a ‘one NOC’ approach.
We have a rich history dating back to 1949, and our future has never looked more exciting as we aim to be the world’s most innovative oceanographic institution.
About the role
The candidate will join the Marine Geosystems Subgroup, a dynamic team of research geoscientists that includes expertise across marine geohazards, seafloor resource characterisation, subsurface and seafloor fluid flow, rock physics, and sedimentology, and is part of the wider Ocean BioGeosciences Research Group. We are looking to expand our marine geophysics capacity, to advance and take advantage of new technologies and techniques in autonomy and underwater seismo-acoustics for sustained ocean observations. The candidate will have the opportunity to develop their own research and to contribute to a host of funded fundamental and applied science projects with international collaborators that investigate topics such as gas storage (particularly Hydrogen and CO2), seafloor fluid flow and climate change feedbacks, monitoring geohazards and explosive volcanism, assessing human impacts in the ocean, and characterisation of seafloor resources.
Passive acoustic sensing enables monitoring of multiple processes over large areas. It is an emerging field that has relevance to monitoring of natural processes and the related geohazard, human disturbances, and of biological signals all of which complement existing and planned research led by NOC. This individual will enable delivery of existing projects and provide new skillsets to explore new opportunities, such as analysis of datasets gathered by broadband passive monitoring systems and fibreoptic sensing.
The role will include:
- Contributing to and leading research in the area of passive seismology/acoustics.
- Contributing to and leading research proposals.
- Collaborating with other marine geoscientists and the wider scientific and engineering community across NOC to contribute to our wider scientific mission.
- Supervision of MSc and PhD students.
- Presentation of research results at project meetings and international conferences and publish results in peer reviewed scientific journals.
- Opportunities to undertake science at sea on the UK’s research vessels and to contribute to other international research projects offshore.
About you
We are looking for a Marine Seismo-acoustics Researcher (specifically in the field of passive seismo-acoustics) that can contribute their expertise that could include the following areas:
- Passive monitoring of a range of natural and anthropogenic processes within the water-column (e.g. cetaceans, bubbles, underwater vehicles) and subsurface (e.g. earthquakes, hydrofracturing events).
- Full-waveform forward modelling that can be applied to laboratory work in the Rock Physics lab (knowledge of Python and Matlab is desirable).
- Signal detection and analysis of complex/Big Data.
- Inversion to derive physical properties of the subsurface using local earthquakes or locating signal sources (e.g. earthquakes or cetaceans)
The candidate should have a PhD in a relevant field (e.g. Marine Geophysics, Seismology, Physics, Acoustics) and a track record and future vision for research that is aligned with key research areas of the Marine Geosystems team.
Our commitment as an employer
The NOC is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. There is a guaranteed interview scheme for suitable candidates with a disability and we welcome applications from ethnic minorities currently under-represented. The NOC is an Investors in People organisation, and has signed up to the Athena SWAN charter principles to take action to address gender equality.