Doctorate in Glaciology in Modelling firn changes at the glacier scale
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Doctorate in Glaciology in Modelling firn changes at the glacier scale
100%, Zurich, fixed-term
The Professorship of Glaciology, jointly operating at the ETH’s Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) and at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), is looking for a PhD student in "Modelling firn changes at the glacier scale".
With close to 30 group members and activities extending from high-mountain areas across the world to the polar regions, VAW Glaciology is one of the world's leading research groups in the study of glaciers. Our work focuses on quantifying the impacts of climate change on glacier evolution and water resources, advancing the understanding of fundamental glaciological processes, maintaining long-term glacier monitoring, and translating scientific insights into actionable knowledge for authorities, stakeholders, and the wider public.
Project background
deFIRN investigates how firn processes are transitioning in response to climate change, and to quantify how these changes accelerate glacier mass loss in the Swiss Alps and in Central Asia. By developing new, process-based parameterizations for firn and surfacealbedo, the project aims to improve the accuracy of regional-scale glacier models and better predict future water availability in a warming climate.
This 4-year PhD position is part of the deFIRN project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The project is a collaboration between the ETH Zurich (Evan Miles), University of Fribourg (Martina Barandun and Horst Machguth) and the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF (Ruzica Dadic). The core team consists of the 4 Principle Investigators, 4 doctoral students, and 4 Postdocs and aims to quantify the impact of disappearing firn on mountain glaciers. The project also features a broad network of partners in Europe and Central Asia.
Job description
- The aim of this doctorate is to quantify transitions in firn structure, albedo, and temperature of selected glaciers in Switzerland and Central Asia, and determine the consequences of these transitions for glacier surface mass balance.
- You will initially investigate the sensitivity of an established model to different parameterizations, spin-up configurations, and meteorological forcing.
- Subsequently, you will use the model to quantify the influence of firn changes on local and glacier-wide (i) changes of surface energy balance, (ii) changes of firn thermal regime, (iii) changes in firn densification, (iv) changes in glacier surface albedo.
- Particular objectives include the development of frameworks to infer optimal physical parameters and downscaling of meteorology through assimilation of satellite observations, and the evaluation of model results against in situ observations, which the doctoral student will support.
- This fixed-term position is based at the VAW Glaciology with work time in both Sion and Zurich.
- The optimal starting date for the doctoral candidate is 1 April.
Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate holding:
- A master’s degree in environmental science, geoscience, engineering, physics, or a related field, and with strong interest in the cryosphere.
- The successful candidate has experience in computational data analysis or numerical modelling.
- You are eager to work on mountain glaciers in the Alps and in Central Asia.
- Fluency in English is required (oral and written), and knowledge of French or German is an asset.
- Ability to work independently as well as in a collaborative, interdisciplinary and international research team.
Workplace
Workplace
We offer
- We are a dynamic and international research group, fully dedicated to the study of glaciers and the impacts resulting from their changes.
- We value a friendly and welcoming working atmosphere, and strive for excellence in all we do.
- The working languages in our group are English, German, French, and Italian.
- You will be supervised by E. Miles (faculty supervision D. Farinotti) and co-supervised by R. Dadic (SLF) and J. Fiddes (mountainfutures GmbH).
We value diversity and sustainability
Curious? So are we.
We look forward to receiving your online application with the following documents:
- Letter of motivation
- Detailed CV
- Copies of your diplomas and transcripts
- Contact details for two persons willing to act as a reference
The evaluation of applications will start on 11 February and will continue until the position is filled. The optimal starting date for the PhD candidate is 1 April.
Further information about ETH’s Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) can be found on our website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Evan Miles (evan.miles@wsl.ch) (no applications).
Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.
We would like to point out that the pre-selection is carried out by the responsible recruiters and not by artificial intelligence.