PhD position on Arctic sea ice-Greenland ice sheet interactions

North of Greenland is the Last Ice Area of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. In this PhD position, you'll join a Dutch-German project on the interaction between the Last Ice Area and the Greenland Ice Sheet. You will measure sea ice change with satellites, and assess its impact on the northern Greenland Ice Sheet with coupled models. You will collaborate with leading scientists in Germany and The Netherlands, and become an all round scientists who uses both models and remote sensing data.

Your job
As a PhD candidate, you will study how the rapid thinning and loss of sea ice in the Arctic Last Ice Area, north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island, affects surface melt and mass balance of the northern Greenland Ice Sheet. You will combine airborne observations, satellite remote sensing, and regional climate modelling to understand how changes in sea ice thickness, mobility, and open-water formation influence atmosphere-ice sheet interactions.

Your work will include: analysing data from airborne campaigns by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), to assess seasonal and decadal sea ice variability; processing satellite datasets to monitor sea ice and surface melt; investigating how turbulent and radiative heat fluxes from open water and polynyas drive snowfall and melt events; and running regional climate model simulations to project future Greenland surface mass balance under different sea ice scenarios.

You will work within a close collaboration between IMAU and AWI, engaging with an international team of sea ice and climate experts, and some opportunities to join Arctic campaigns organised by AWI. This position offers a unique opportunity to develop strong skills in satellite data analysis and coupled climate modelling, contributing to improved predictions of Arctic change and global sea level rise.

The intended start date of position is flexible, but preferably before or on 1 March 2026.

You are enthusiastic and collaborative and meet at least several of the following criteria:

• a strong interest in contributing to the study of cryosphere changes;
• a Master’s degree in (climate) physics, geosciences, meteorology, oceanography, or similar;
• strong programming skills (Python or similar);
• affinity with spatiotemporal data analyses, remote sensing and numerical modelling;
• the ability to independently plan and organise the research, and to take a leading role in its direction;
• strong oral and written presentation skills;
• a good command of English (reading, writing, speaking).

• A research job with national and international collaborations, leading to a PhD degree;
• a position for 18 months, with an extension to a total of four years upon successful assessment during the first 18 months;
• a full-time working week and a gross monthly salary between €3,059 and €3,881 (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities. You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Working at the Faculty of Science means bringing together inspiring people across disciplines and with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. The Faculty has six departments: Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Information & Computing Sciences, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Together, we work on excellent research and inspiring education. We do so, driven by curiosity and supported by outstanding infrastructure. Visit us on LinkedIn and discover how you can become part of our community.

The Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU), which is part of the department of Physics, offers a unique research and teaching environment, in which the fundamentals of the climate system are studied. Research is organized in five themes: Ice and Climate, Oceans and Climate, Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Coastal and Shelf Sea Dynamics and Earth System modelling. In 2022, IMAU research quality and impact were qualified as 'excellent' by an international visitation committee. Currently, IMAU employs 18 faculty members and 12 support staff and about 24 Postdocs and 21 PhD students, and offers a friendly, open and international atmosphere.

The Ice and Climate group at IMAU is an inspiring, high-quality and versatile research group focusing on ice sheets, sea level, and climate. The group is world-leading in modelling of the ice sheet surface as well as remote sensing of the cryosphere. Currently, our research group has 7 staff members, 7 postdocs and 6 PhD candidates. This position is fully funded, and we encourage and provide financial support for participation in conferences, workshops, summer schools, and international exchange.

For more information, please contact Lu Zhou at l.zhou@uu.nl.

Do you have a question about the application procedure? Please send an email to science.recruitment@uu.nl.