PRR Project

Summary

The prospective Research Associate to be hired with the present FCT-tenure application should develop research based on the physical relation between earthquakes and volcano-tectonic processes, thus contributing to the advances of the University of the Azores in seismology, mainly volcanic seismology. For that purpose, the applicant should hold a Ph.D. degree in Geophysics, Physics, or Earth Sciences and be proficient in spoken and written Portuguese and English. Furthermore, the successful candidate is expected to actively seek external funding opportunities, develop a robust research program that combines fieldwork, laboratory activities, and numerical analysis, and engage in collaborative efforts with academic, industrial, and governmental partners across multiple disciplines.The research will be carried out in the context of the Azore´s geodynamic setting and in the interaction between the build-up of tectonic and magmatic/volcanic stress fields to understand better the triggering mechanisms, spatiotemporal scales, and interactions of earthquakes and volcanic processes, namely volcanic unrest episodes. Research data is based on the monitoring data sets from the Azores seismovolcanic network, which comprises 35 short periods and nine broadband seismic stations. The applicant should be familiar with waveform analysis tools, automatic processing of large datasets (for developing an early warning system), source inversion and imaging, fieldwork, and seismic instrumentation. It is desirable that the applicant also has proficiency in programming languages such as Python, Matlab, and Fortran. The applicant will prepare and control the quality of the datasets, determine arrival times of seismic P- and S-Phases of local earthquakes, detect and analyze volcanic seismic signals, improve velocity models, and contribute to wave tomography.IVAR shares the responsibilities of the Azores Volcano observatory with the CIVISA (Centre for Information and Seismovolcanic Surveillance of the Azores). Being seismicity one of the best tools to monitor magma migration on volcanoes, IVAR intends to reinforce the reduced number of researchers in seismology given the seismicity associated with the plate boundaries, the number of active volcanoes in the Azores, and the recent unrest episodes that are still ongoing.