Project description

The PhD project aims to understand how the Riiser-Larsen ice shelf and neighbouring ice shelves in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, are changing in response to ocean and atmosphere warming. The ice shelves are sensitive to climate change and act as a warning system for future sea level change. To achieve this the project will analyse structural and mass changes on inter-annual to decadal time scales. The PhD student will use advanced satellite methods, such as altimetry and interferometry, to develop the products for these analyses. Due to the volume of data, automation using programming and machine learning is expected.

The project is part of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat’s Antarctic research theme iQ2300 led by Stockholm University. iQ2300 is an international, multi-disciplinary research theme which aims to reduce uncertainties in projections of sea level rise by the year 2300. The project will use data collected from field expeditions and remote sensing on the Dronning Maud Land margin to address key knowledge gaps that limit our ability to model Antarctic ice sheet responses to future climate. The PhD project is based at Stockholm University but includes close collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and is financed by the Swedish National Space Agency.

Qualification requirements

In order to be admitted to postgraduate education, the applicant must have the general and specific entry requirements. The qualification requirements must be met by the deadline for applications.

You meet general entry requirements if you have completed a second-cycle degree, or completed courses equivalent to at least 240 higher education credits, of which 60 credits must be in the second cycle, or have otherwise acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or elsewhere.

In order to meet the specific entry requirements, and to fulfil the general syllabus for doctoral studies in Physical Geography, the candidate for this position should have acquired a total of at least 240 higher education credits (of which at least 60 at advanced level), or acquired in some alternative way, the equivalent knowledge in the fields of Earth Science, biology-Earth science, Geography, or other relevant natural or engineering scientific disciplines. This program should include independent work totaling at least 30 higher education credits, of which 15 credits are at an advanced level.