PhD Candidate: Glaciology & Glacier Hazard Modeling

ETH Zurich; Zürich; On-site; CHF 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

ETH Zurich invites applications for a Doctoral Student in Glaciology and Glacial Hazards based in Zürich. The project ICEFAL combines fieldwork, thermo-mechanical modeling, and geospatial analyses to assess hazard potential of hanging glaciers in the French and Swiss Alps.

The successful candidate will map glaciers, conduct high-elevation measurements, and integrate data with Elmer/Ice modeling to explore past and future temperature fields and their impact on stability.

Qualifications

• A Master’s degree in geophysics, physics, environmental or earth science, environmental engineering, or related fields.
• Excellent knowledge of English, both in oral and written form (C1 to C2).
• Solid foundation in math and physics.
• Glaciologic training or expertise.
• Willingness to conduct fieldwork in a high-mountain environment.
• Geospatial analysis and processing skills (e.g., QGIS).
• Experience with hazard and risk management concepts.
• Prior experience with physics-based numerical modeling.
• Familiarity with a scripting language (e.g., Python or Matlab).
• Interest and experience working in teams.
• Knowledge of German and/or French.

Responsibilities

• Create an inventory of hanging glaciers using manual mapping and possibly machine-learning aided approaches.
• Perform field measurements at high-elevation sites in Switzerland.
• Collect measurements of ice temperatures, complemented with mass balance measurements, firn cores, and long-term ice-avalanche data analyses.
• Drive a state-of-the-art thermo-mechanical model (Elmer/Ice) to investigate temperature evolution and stability.
• Predict basal temperatures and intersect with stability criteria to derive a hazard index for hanging glaciers.

Education

Master’s degree in geophysics, physics, environmental or earth science, environmental engineering, or related fields

Tools

Python

Matlab

QGIS

Job description

ETH Zurich invites applications for a Doctoral Student in Glaciology and Glacial Hazards based in Zürich. The project ICEFAL combines fieldwork, thermo-mechanical modeling, and geospatial analyses to assess hazard potential of hanging glaciers in the French and Swiss Alps.

The successful candidate will map glaciers, conduct high-elevation measurements, and integrate data with Elmer/Ice modeling to explore past and future temperature fields and their impact on stability.