Quantification and characterisation of dust microphysical properties in the Mediterranean and Middle East, through the novel Aerotape technology

This project has the objective of improving our knowledge of dust physico-chemical fingerprints from local (city emission) vs regional (desert) dust; propose to EU Air Quality Networks a new technology to better respond to the new (more stringent) EU Air Quality Directive; and engage the scientific community (e.g. from European Research Infrastructures) to further utilize this new technology and enhance long-term atmospheric monitoring of dust to better assess their impacts.

The candidate will test and validate a novel cost-effective scientific instrument (AEROTAPE) developed by the company Oberon Sciences to perform high time resolution quality-controlled measurement of dust micro-physical properties, leverage field campaigns and long-term observations planned in the Dust-DN to create new synergies between in-situ and remote sensing monitoring systems; deploy the technology across the Mediterranean and the Middle East to better identifying the influence of source regions (Sahara & Arabian deserts) on atmospheric dust properties; deploy the technology in contrasted EU Air Quality Monitoring Networks to better apportion local (e.g. road resuspended dust) vs regional (long-range transported) fraction of dust so as to build a new database of PM dust within cities and address the health impact of chronic exposure to local dust.

The doctoral candidate will be based at CyI in Nicosia, Cyprus and will be supervised by Prof. Jean Sciare (CyI) and Dr. Diana Francis (Khalifa University) and will work closely with several French Research Performing Organizations (CNRS, CEA) and the French company Oberon Sciences.

In addition, the project will include planned secondments at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), the National Observatory of Athens (Greece), and Khalifa University (United Arab Emirates).

The Cyprus Institute (CyI) is a no-profit research and educational institution with a strong scientific and technological orientation, emphasizing international collaborations, cross-disciplinary research, innovation, and post-graduate education. CyI, through its established research centres, addresses challenging issues that are important at both the regional and international levels. Many of its research activities are being carried out in partnership with leading institutions in respective thematic areas. The Cyprus Institute actuates its educational mission through its Graduate School. It is a fully accredited, degree-granting institution of higher education offering exclusively postgraduate programs. It maintains a small number of students that are fully integrated into the research activities of the institute. This provides the students with the opportunity to acquire hands-on training in the use of the latest methods and techniques, have access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, and conduct research with internationally recognized research teams.

The selected candidate will be working at the Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C, https://emme-care.cyi.ac.cy/) of the Cyprus Institute within a highly international environment. CARE-C is a regional Centre of Excellence focused on addressing urgent climate change and air pollution challenges and impacts. The establishment of CARE-C was sponsored through funding received from the European Union’s research and innovation program (grant no. 856612) and the Cyprus Government, within the framework of Teaming project EMME-CARE. It comprises four departments: Environmental Observations, Environmental Predictions, Impact and policy, and Environmental Technologies. Moreover, it comprises a number of facilities for atmospheric research such as the Cyprus Atmospheric Observatory (https://cao.cyi.ac.cy/) and the Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (https://usrl.cyi.ac.cy/).

The PhD will be supervised by Prof. Jean Sciare (JS) who is the founding director of CARE-C; a 100-research staff Centre of Excellence of the Cyprus Institute, addressing issues related to Air Pollution & Climate Change over Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean & Middle East (EMME). His main scientific expertise covers the experimental characterization of air pollutants and their impacts on health and regional climate. JS is coordinating several large international projects such as the Horizon Europe “EDU4CLIMATE” to train the next generation of regional climate scientists and Horizon Europe “ENVRINNOV” to develop the Innovation Roadmap of the (>20) European Research Infrastructures of the Environment domain. JS is among the top 10 best Scientists of Cyprus (AD Scientific Index 2024); he has (co-) authored >200 peer-reviewed publications (H-index 68) and brought > 20M€ of competitive funds over the last 10 years, hereby contributing to the long-term sustainability of his Centre of Excellence.

Qualification Requirements

The candidates are required to possess an excellent master’s degree (or equivalent) in a physical or mathematical science subject (or other natural science discipline) and to not have any kind of PhD degree.

Fluency in written and oral English is compulsory (as per the admission requirements of the CyI Graduate School, a certificate will be required in the second step of the application procedure).

Motivation for research on atmospheric dust.

Experience or aptitude to develop scientific software (computer-based programming)

Demonstrated ability in being a strong team player.

Strong international mobility for the purpose of research, training, and dissemination is mandatory.