Doctoral student in Natural Science, specialising in Physical Geography: Arctic sea ice from remote sensing

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

The Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Gothenburg has around 80 employees. We have Bachelor and Master’s programmes in Earth Sciences and in Geography as well as third-cycle education. Our strongest research areas lie within climatology, ecosystem sciences, and applied geoscience. The research strategy for the department emphasizes on further development of Earth System Science. For more information, see our website: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg

This project is funded by the newly-formed Swedish Space Research School, doctoral training programme in which you will be invited to enroll. For more information: Swedish Space Research School

General information about being a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university's doctoral student pages: doctoral student pages

Arctic polynyas, more than just holes in the ice

The Arctic is warming four times as fast as the rest of the globe. Its sea ice is disappearing. To make matters worse, polynyas (holes in the sea ice) have started opening in the so-called “last ice area”, where sea ice is/was still thick and holding on. What is driving these openings?

Besides, these polynyas cool the ocean, produce clouds, enhance air-sea fluxes of gases and are ecosystem hotspots. Is it good or bad news for the climate system that they started opening?

This project, ‘ASAP’, funded by the Swedish Space Research School aims to determine:

• Why summer polynyas open where and when they do in the Arctic;
• Why they change shape while they are open, in particular the respective roles of dynamics and thermodynamics in a changing climate;
• Whether we can increase the temporal resolution of polynya retrievals, by better understanding for in-situ data analysis and modelling the ocean – sea ice – atmosphere system.

Duties

Your task will consist in applying, and when necessary, adapting, this group’s algorithms developed for winter polynyas to the more challenging summer ones. You will work with already available sea ice concentration, thickness, and drift products. The modelling part will be done using the large eddy simulation model MIMICA; no prior experience with it is required. All in-situ data required for the project have already been collected.

PhD students are encouraged to add their own ideas to the project, so we welcome candidates also interested in ocean mixing, air-sea fluxes of gasses, or transport of nutrients.

You are expected to publish your findings in English-speaking high quality papers and attend relevant national and international conferences.

This position is a collaboration between the two universities of Gothenburg: Gothenburg University and Chalmers University of Technology.

Doctoral studies comprise four years of full-time study, and lead to a doctoral degree.

As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties corresponding to up to 20 % of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period, and result in an extension of the studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels, but may also include administration.

Eligibility

Doctoral education requires general eligibility and, where appropriate, specific eligibility as set out in the general syllabus for the subject.

The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:

1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad.

Specific entry requirements for this subject are having studied at the Master´s level in Physics, Physical Oceanography, Fluid Dynamics, Climatology, Meteorology, Glaciology, Earth Sciences, or related fields.

Assessment criteria

The selection of applicants who meet the basic and specific eligibility requirements will be based on the ability to assimilate the doctoral studies.

Students that have not completed their studies at the time of application are encouraged to do so before they start the position.

You can apply if:

• You have a strong interest in the polar oceans.
• You are proficient in English, both written and spoken.
• You have a medium-to-advanced level in Python, Matlab, or similar. That is, you are able to work with complex 4D datasets, regrid them, filter them, perform EOF or composite analysis, etc.
• You have a basic knowledge in Physical Oceanography and Climate Science.

Merits:
The successful candidate will be encouraged to teach in Swedish. As such, proficiency in one of the Scandinavian languages is desirable; so is some experience with handling datasets in a Linux environment and/or on remote servers.

Admission and employment

Type of employment: Temporary employment
Extent: 100 %
Location: Department of Earth Sciences, Gothenburg
First day of employment: As agreed, but no later than 1st October 2026.

Regulations for employment of doctoral students are given in SFS 1998:80. Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg. The initial appointment may apply for no longer than one year. An appointment may be renewed for no more than two years at a time. The total employment period may not exceed the time corresponding to full-time third-cycle studies for four years.

The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students.

Please note, doctoral studies at the department of Earth Sciences require physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the Department has the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot present a valid residence permit no later than at the start of the studies.

Contact information

Project leader Dr Céline Heuzé, celine.heuze@gu.se
Co-supervisor responsible for the modelling, Dr Luisa Ickes, luisa.ickes@chalmers.se

Application

You can apply to be admitted to doctoral education via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal. Do not email your application to Céline Heuzé or Luisa Ickes.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

The application must contain

• a personal letter with an explanation of why you are applying to work on this particular project with this particular group (no more than 2 pages);
• a CV (no more than 2 pages);
• the name and contact details of two reference persons, where one should be your Master’s supervisor or equivalent.

Applications must be received by: 2026-05-10