PhD position in Statistics Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA)

PhD position in Statistics ORGANISATION/COMPANY Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) RESEARCH FIELD Mathematics › Statistics RESEARCHER PROFILE First Stage Researcher (R1) APPLICATION DEADLINE 15/06/2017 23:00 - Europe/Brussels LOCATION Belgium › Louvain-la-Neuve TYPE OF CONTRACT Temporary JOB STATUS Full-time HOURS PER WEEK 38 OFFER STARTING DATE 01/09/2017 The Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA) of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, has a vacancy for a PhD position in methodological statistics, in collaboration with the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), in Bruxelles. Job description Financed by BELSPO, the supervision of the PhD student will be assumed by Prof. Rainer von Sachs (ISBA), in collaboration with statisticians of the ROB. Some support for the data analysis part of the project will be given by Prof. Christian Ritter (SMCS). Preference will be given to candidates with knowledge in methodological statistics: nonparametric statistics, multivariate analysis, regression, time series analysis, quality control. The candidate should have a keen interest in stellar and solar physics, quantitative data analysis and/or climate sciences. Project description This BELSPO project called VAL-U-SUN is centered on the exploitation of sunspot data from the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB). The Sunspot Number is the longest scientific experiment still ongoing and a crucial benchmark to study solar activity, space weather and climate change. The ROB plays a central role in the continuation of this experiment, as it hosts the Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations World Data Center (SILSO-WDC, http://sidc.be/silso/). This World Data Center aims at collecting solar data related to sunspots, as well as producing and distributing the International Sunspot Number, which is used in about two hundred scientific publications on an annual basis. SILSO gathers sunspot data and computes the Sunspot Number from a worldwide network every day since 1981, but the statistical treatment applied to the data is still an inheritance from 1850. The purpose of this PhD project is to develop a statistically sound (monitoring) treatment of the international Sunspot Number meeting the standards of the twenty-first century. Benefits A tax-free monthly grant of up to 4 years. The candidate will be involved on a small scale into some teaching activities of the Institute of Statistics (ISBA). Selection process Please send the following documents to Mrs. N. Guillaume (nancy.guillaume@uclouvain.be): • a letter of motivation • your curriculum vitae • a list of passed courses and grades • copy of diplomas • at least one reference letter to be sent by email directly to the referee http://sidc.be Additional comments Research environment The PhD would take place mostly at the ISBA and partly at the ROB, more specifically within the World Data Center – SILSO. The ISBA (https://uclouvain.be/en/research-institutes/immaq/isba) is a renowned research centre of high international reputation which offers a very stimulating working environment. At the ISBA there are around 30 pre- and postdoctoral researchers working under the supervision of 10 full-time professors, in a variety of fields of methodological and applied statistics, including biostatistics and actuarial sciences. They are integrated into the Graduate School in Statistics and Actuarial Sciences which offers them an up-to-date training in their field via regular seminar series, short courses and workshops, all in English and often given by international short and long-term visitors. ISBA is also part of a large international research network. It has numerous academic contacts, including those to neighboring fields (medicine, agronomy, social science, economy, finance and engineering) as well as collaborations with industry. ISBA also hosts the SMCS, a computational statistics and consulting unit, which will be partly incorporated into this project in order to provide some computational support for developing the statistically sound algorithms. The ROB (http://www.observatory.be/) is a Belgian federal institute in the green outskirts of Brussels (Uccle). The ROB solar Physics team is involved in numerous ground-based and space-based projects, as well as several operational services of monitoring and predicting solar activity on the European and international level. The team counts approximately 40 collaborators, mostly scientists from more than eight different nationalities (http://sidc.be). Information For further information, please contact Prof. Rainer von Sachs (rvs@uclouvain.be). For administrative questions or for more information regarding the application procedure please contact Mrs. N. Guillaume (nancy.guillaume@uclouvain.be). Offer Requirements REQUIRED LANGUAGES ENGLISH: Good Skills/Qualifications Master degree in statistics, mathematics, physics, actuarial sciences or a related discipline, with some experience on (basic) data analysis. The diploma must have been obtained with at least distinction or an equivalent grade. Good knowledge of written and spoken English is required. No proper knowledge of French is required. If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Computeroxy Apply

PhD position in Statistics

ORGANISATION/COMPANY
Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)

RESEARCH FIELD
Mathematics › Statistics

RESEARCHER PROFILE
First Stage Researcher (R1)

APPLICATION DEADLINE
15/06/2017 23:00 - Europe/Brussels

LOCATION
Belgium › Louvain-la-Neuve

TYPE OF CONTRACT
Temporary

JOB STATUS
Full-time

HOURS PER WEEK
38

OFFER STARTING DATE
01/09/2017

The Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA) of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, has a vacancy for a PhD position in methodological statistics, in collaboration with the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB), in Bruxelles.

Job description

Financed by BELSPO, the supervision of the PhD student will be assumed by Prof. Rainer von Sachs (ISBA), in collaboration with statisticians of the ROB. Some support for the data analysis part of the project will be given by Prof. Christian Ritter (SMCS). Preference will be given to candidates with knowledge in methodological statistics: nonparametric statistics, multivariate analysis, regression, time series analysis, quality control. The candidate should have a keen interest in stellar and solar physics, quantitative data analysis and/or climate sciences.

Project description

This BELSPO project called VAL-U-SUN is centered on the exploitation of sunspot data from the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB). The Sunspot Number is the longest scientific experiment still ongoing and a crucial benchmark to study solar activity, space weather and climate change. The ROB plays a central role in the continuation of this experiment, as it hosts the Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations World Data Center (SILSO-WDC, http://sidc.be/silso/). This World Data Center aims at collecting solar data related to sunspots, as well as producing and distributing the International Sunspot Number, which is used in about two hundred scientific publications on an annual basis.

SILSO gathers sunspot data and computes the Sunspot Number from a worldwide network every day since 1981, but the statistical treatment applied to the data is still an inheritance from 1850. The purpose of this PhD project is to develop a statistically sound (monitoring) treatment of the international Sunspot Number meeting the standards of the twenty-first century.

Benefits

A tax-free monthly grant of up to 4 years. The candidate will be involved on a small scale into some teaching activities of the Institute of Statistics (ISBA).

Selection process

Please send the following documents to Mrs. N. Guillaume (nancy.guillaume@uclouvain.be):

• a letter of motivation
• your curriculum vitae
• a list of passed courses and grades
• copy of diplomas
• at least one reference letter to be sent by email directly to the referee http://sidc.be

Additional comments

Research environment

The PhD would take place mostly at the ISBA and partly at the ROB, more specifically within the World Data Center – SILSO.

The ISBA (https://uclouvain.be/en/research-institutes/immaq/isba) is a renowned research centre of high international reputation which offers a very stimulating working environment. At the ISBA there are around 30 pre- and postdoctoral researchers working under the supervision of 10 full-time professors, in a variety of fields of methodological and applied statistics, including biostatistics and actuarial sciences. They are integrated into the Graduate School in Statistics and Actuarial Sciences which offers them an up-to-date training in their field via regular seminar series, short courses and workshops, all in English and often given by international short and long-term visitors. ISBA is also part of a large international research network. It has numerous academic contacts, including those to neighboring fields (medicine, agronomy, social science, economy, finance and engineering) as well as collaborations with industry.

ISBA also hosts the SMCS, a computational statistics and consulting unit, which will be partly incorporated into this project in order to provide some computational support for developing the statistically sound algorithms.

The ROB (http://www.observatory.be/) is a Belgian federal institute in the green outskirts of Brussels (Uccle). The ROB solar Physics team is involved in numerous ground-based and space-based projects, as well as several operational services of monitoring and predicting solar activity on the European and international level. The team counts approximately 40 collaborators, mostly scientists from more than eight different nationalities (http://sidc.be).

Information

For further information, please contact Prof. Rainer von Sachs (rvs@uclouvain.be). For administrative questions or for more information regarding the application procedure please contact Mrs. N. Guillaume (nancy.guillaume@uclouvain.be).

Offer Requirements

REQUIRED LANGUAGES

ENGLISH: Good

Skills/Qualifications

Master degree in statistics, mathematics, physics, actuarial sciences or a related discipline, with some experience on (basic) data analysis. The diploma must have been obtained with at least distinction or an equivalent grade.
Good knowledge of written and spoken English is required. No proper knowledge of French is required.

If you apply for this position please say you saw it on Computeroxy

Apply