PhD: Exoplanet Atmospheres & Biosignatures (LIFE)

Immigration Policy Lab; Zürich; On-site; CHF 48,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully funded four-year Doctoral Posit.

Competitive salary & ETH benefits

Job summary

ETH Zurich invites applications for one or two Doctoral Students to study atmospheric characterisation of temperate terrestrial exoplanets and the search for life within the Exoplanets and Habitability Group led by Prof. Sascha P. Quanz.

The position is closely connected to the LIFE space mission and LIFE Science Team. We offer a fully funded four-year Doctoral Position with competitive salary and benefits according to ETH regulations, including support for conference travel, computing and

Qualifications

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in astrophysics, planetary science, atmospheric science, physics or a closely related field, completed by the start date
• Strong interest in exoplanet science, atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures and the search for life
• Strong scientific programming skills, preferably in Python; experience with AI and machine learning tools is an asset
• Very good command of English (spoken and written)

Responsibilities

• Develop and pursue research on the characterisation of temperate terrestrial exoplanet atmospheres and the search for signs of life in the context of the LIFE mission
• Investigate atmospheric scenarios beyond modern Earth analogues; may include non-Earth-like biospheres, non-standard biosignatures and/or relevant abiotic alternatives
• Use and further develop atmospheric retrieval and/or complementary modelling and inference approaches
• Explore ML/AI approaches for atmospheric inference and interpretation
• Investigate robustness and limitations of atmospheric characterisation methods and compare complementary approaches
• Translate atmospheric characterisation results into science requirements and instrument-performance requirements for LIFE
• Contribute new scientific ideas to LIFE science case and interact with LIFE collaboration

Skills

Python programming

Machine learning basics

English proficiency

Education

Master's degree in astrophysics / planetary science / atmospheric science / physics

Tools

Python

AI/ML tools

Job description

ETH Zurich invites applications for one or two Doctoral Students to study atmospheric characterisation of temperate terrestrial exoplanets and the search for life within the Exoplanets and Habitability Group led by Prof. Sascha P. Quanz.

The position is closely connected to the LIFE space mission and LIFE Science Team. We offer a fully funded four-year Doctoral Position with competitive salary and benefits according to ETH regulations, including support for conference travel, computing and