2026 Internship Opportunities

CMCC (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) within the Copernicus Marine Service, provides daily ocean dynamics analysis and forecasts up to 10 days forced by the ECMWF atmospheric analysis and forecast data. The two operational systems developed and maintained by CMCC are: the MedFS (Mediterranean Forecasting System) and the BSFS (Black Sea Forecasting system), both based on a 2-way coupled wave-current (NEMO-WW3) deterministic system. The MedFS showed good skills in predicting the storm surge associated with extreme atmospheric events (Medicane Ianos – August 2020, Venice acqua alta – November 2022). The forecasting system will evolve towards an oceanic forecasts ensemble forced by a selected number of members of the ECMWF Ensemble 15 days forecast. We will identify some extreme events developed in the ocean like cyclones, coastal storms, and assess the ensemble representation of those events comparing the solutions of the ensemble members and the high-resolution deterministic solution (analyses or downscaled reanalysis). Eventually, the impact of these ensemble atmospheric forecasts on the ocean dynamics solution will be also assessed with respect to observed data.

The student will learn about weather dynamics in the Euro-Mediterranean area, about the ocean dynamics of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and will familiarize with the management of the short-time predictions. The scientific background should include the understanding of the fluxes exchange at the ocean-atmosphere interface, of the drivers of the cyclogenesis, and the processes responsible for the onset of marine heat waves.

The role of the student would be to assess the skills and uncertainty of the ensemble atmospheric predictions for the selected cases, and their impact on the oceanic solution. An assessment of the model results versus observed data or reference dataset could also be appreciable.
The student will be responsible for managing the model outputs and reference datasets utilizing the computation language which is most familiar with (Python, Fortran, NCO, CDO, bash scripting).

The student will gain a comprehensive understanding of the ocean-atmosphere interaction in the European area, will improve her/his ability to manage forecast/analyses datasets and satellite products, and to assess the forecasts performances using several reference and observational datasets.

Basic statistics, basic oceanography, dynamical meteorology, physics of the atmosphere in general. Additional material will be provided before the internship starts.

Basic python and bash scripting, NetCDF data handling, experience in working on remote clusters and data centers.

A laptop is required.

• Student(s) are responsible for securing accommodations for the duration of the internship.
• Students will need to consult UHS for travel medical requirements. It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of entry requirements and to obtain any necessary documentation. Valid passport required. Students are required to register their travel with the University through Enroll My Trip. Information related to the University’s Permissible Travel Guidelines can be found here. Funding is contingent on travel registration and University approval.