PhD studentship in Ice and Climate Research

A PhD studentship is available at the Centre of Excellence for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen. The PhD student will have the opportunity to participate in the International Polar Year deep ice core drilling project, NEEM, on the Greenland Ice Sheet.

One scholarship is offered for one of the two following projects.

Project 1: Carbon cycle modelling

A PhD studentship within the topic of carbon cycle modelling is available, funded in cooperation by the Centre for Ice and Climate and the Danish National Environmental Research Institute. A cornerstone in the Centre for Ice and Climate research plan is the measurement of greenhouse gasses on Greenland Ice Cores. In connection with this, ocean carbon cycle models will be applied, and collaboration with other research groups in the field will be initiated. The model results are expected to support the interpretation of the ice core CO₂ measurements and to improve understanding of the carbon cycle especially in warm climatic periods.

Supervisors: Jørgen Bendtsen (Danish National Environmental Research Institute) and Dorthe Dahl-Jensen (Centre for Ice and Climate).

Project 2: Ice sheet modelling

A PhD studentship within the topic of ice flow modelling is available, funded in cooperation by the Centre for Ice and Climate (CIC) and the Danish Climate Centre at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). The candidate will mainly be based at CIC, and the project will be carried out in the framework of the interdisciplinary Danish ice sheet modelling initiative in which CIC and DMI are key partners.

The overall goal is to address the very timely question of how the Greenland Ice Sheet will respond to global warming. The focus of the PhD will be to develop existing ice flow models to improve the treatment of the surface mass balance and the interaction with climate models. Data compiled and collected by CIC and DMI on and around the Greenland ice sheet will be used to validate the models.

Supervisors: Christine Hvidberg (Centre for Ice and Climate) and Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir (Danish Meteorological Institute).

The applicant

We seek applicants with degrees in geophysics, physics, chemistry, or other related or relevant fields.

Any potential applicant is invited to apply irrespective of age, sex, race, religion or ethnic background.

Terms

By default, the PhD program at the Centre is for three years and provides all students with full benefits and a monthly scholarship starting at approx. 24,000 Danish kroner depending on the amount of relevant work experience. A 4-year program for applicants with a BSc degree is also available.

Read more about the PhD school here, but note that the application procedure described below must be followed.

Starting time March-April 2009.

Application

The application should contain the following material:

• Cover letter describing how the applicant's current studies, experience, and research interests fit the proposed project and the project plan of the Centre for Ice and Climate (max. one page). The project plan can be obtained here.
• CV including list of publications
• Names and contact information of 3 referees
• Grade transcripts from BSc. and Master courses
• Documentation of obtained MSc degree and evaluation of the MSc thesis, when available

The application should consist of a single PDF file and should be sent by e-mail to ice_and_climate@gfy.ku.dk before February 2, 2009, noon CET.