PhD positions in the Institute of Geophysics

The Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (www.igf.edu.pl) is a scientific institution representing the mainstream of Polish basic research in Earth and environmental sciences. It is the only institution in Poland that performs monitoring of geophysical fields in seismology, geomagnetism, and selected areas of atmospheric physics. Currently, the Institute is recruiting for three doctoral topics to the GeoPlanet Doctoral School.

Recruitment lasts from July 1, 2024 to August 18, 2024.

ATTENTION!
RECRUITMENT FOR THE TOPIC: Geomagnetism and hydromagnetic dynamo theory IS EXTENDED UNTIL 30.09.2024

Studies last 4 years and begin on October 1, 2024. During the 4 years, students must take specific courses and lectures (including interdisciplinary lectures), participate in seminars, and prepare the doctoral thesis. All workshops and lectures are in English.

The regulations of the doctoral school, including the program of the Studies, are here: https://geoplanetschool.camk.edu.pl/doctoral-school/regulations/

Information about the proposed research topics and their supervisors is attached to this announcement. Candidates can apply for one topic and should indicate it in the application. Before applying, candidates should contact their potential supervisors to obtain more details on the proposals.

Students in the doctoral school receive a scholarship for the period of 4 years. The amount of scholarship is set in the Law on higher education and science and is currently 3466.90 PLN/month, gross (ca. 3077 PLN/month net), before the mid-term evaluation (years 1–2) and 5340.90 PLN/month, gross (ca. 4740 PLN/month, net), after the positive mid-term evaluation (years 3–4).

The following documents are required in the recruitment procedure:

The motion to enrol in the Doctoral School along with the consent for processing personal data for recruitment purposes and the declaration about familiarising with the present Regulations. Application to the DS GeoPlanet
A copy of the diploma certifying the completion of studies or a certificate confirming the completion of studies. In the case when the candidate is not in possession of the above-mentioned documents, he/she is obliged to deliver them before the start of the education in the Doctoral School. The documents are not required from the person referred to in Article 186, paragraph 2 of the Law.

Note: If the candidate does not have the abovementioned documents, she/he is expected to provide them before admission to the doctoral school.

The list of grades obtained during the first-cycle (B.A., B.Sc.) and second-cycle studies (M.A., M.Sc.) or the list of grades obtained during the long-cycle Master Degree studies.

The curriculum vitae containing the course of the existing education and employment, the list of publications, information on the involvement in scientific activity (membership in student research groups, participation in scientific conferences, internships and trainings, obtained awards and distinctions). CV form

A letter of motivation containing a short description of interests and scientific achievements and the justification why the candidate intends to undertake the education in the Doctoral School. A cover letter form

Certificates or other documents stating the level of command of English language if the candidate is in possession of such documents.

At least one letter of recommendation from the current research supervisor, academic teacher or research worker describing the candidate and his/her scientific activity that has been carried out by him/her so far. The letter can be sent by the candidate or directly by the person who wrote the letter. It is also possible that the candidate indicates a person who is a research worker or an academic teacher and holds a scientific degree from whom the recruitment commission may independently obtain such an opinion. In such a case the recruitment commission asks for such an opinion within the term that allows for taking it into consideration during the recruitment time. The possible ways to deliver the letter are included in the recruitment announcement.

More details can be found here: https://www.igf.edu.pl/rekrutacja-uzupelniajaca-2019-2020.php

Documents should be sent in electronic form in one PDF file (by e-mail) only to the address: studia.doktoranckie@igf.edu.pl by August 18, 2024.

Documents should be sent in one PDF file in the order as above (1-7). The documents sent in other form will not be considered by the recruitment committee.

Please contact us if you have any questions regarding recruitment rules:

Anna Cygan – The Head of Research Office (sn@igf.edu.pl)

Warsaw, June1, 2024

Subject: Understanding mixing in small vegetated open channels through field tracer studies and numerical modelling

Supervisor: dr hab inż. Monika Kalinowska, prof IG PAS Monika.Kalinowska@igf.edu.pl, Hydrology and Hydrodynamic Department

REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant should hold a degree in physics, geophysics, mathematics, informatics, or a related subject.
Advanced programming skills (C++, Python or similar) are required for this position. Knowledge of hydrodynamic models used for flow or transport modelling (e.g., CCHE2D, HEC RAS, Delf3D) may be a plus.
The candidate should possess experience in conducting field measurements; additional experience in tracer studies is desirable. Experience in operating fluorometers will be an asset.
Ability to work effectively and collaborate with other team members.
Fluent spoken and written English is required.
Experience in writing scientific papers, preparing scientific presentations/posters, and participating in scientific projects will be an asset.

TASKS DESCRIPTION:

The PhD student will join the group working on a topic related to the modelling of transport processes in vegetated channels. The PhD project will combine field, experimental, computational, and theoretical research. The main tasks will be:

Preparing and participating in field studies and observations, including tracer tests.
Analysing the data collected during the field investigations.
Using existing computational methods and tools/models or developing new ones to simulate the conditions and interpret the data obtained from the selected field studies.
Providing regular progress reports on the work.
Writing scientific papers and presenting findings at conferences.
Providing assistance with day-to-day scientific, organisational, and teaching tasks.

Location: Warsaw

Funding: The scholarship will be paid in accordance with the regulations regarding the amount of the scholarship established by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education

Note: A separate ranking list will be created for this topic

Subject: Geomagnetism and hydromagnetic dynamo theory

Recruitment for this topic is extended until 30.09.2024

Supervisor: dr hab. Krzysztof Mizerski, prof. IG PAS kamiz@igf.edu.pl, Magnetism Department

REQUIREMENTS:

Master degree in physics, mathematics or engineering. It is allowed to submit applications by people who graduate from studies in the coming months and will submit the opinion of the master’s thesis supervisor.
Very good programming skills, in particular knowledge of numerical methods used for solving partial differential equations.
Experience in solving partial differential equations with either theoretical or numerical methods.
Good knowledge of electromagnetism and fluid dynamics.
Good knowledge of English. `

TASKS DESCRIPTION:

The PhD student will join the group implementing the NCN project no. 2023/49/B/ST10/03412 entitled ” Geodynamo from nonequilibrium turbulent wave field”. The project is scheduled for 48 months. The main tasks include application of the fully three-dimensional code (created and owned by the PI) or the open-source code Dedalus 3 to solving the hydro-magnetic dynamo problem under the anelastic approximation in the Cartesian geometry, including the effects of shear, gravity and density stratification, with different types of thermal boundary conditions; numerical simulations with high resolution in 3D; numerical analysis of the evolution equations for the cross- and kinetic helicities and numerical modeling of theoretically obtained mean field equations within the scope of incompressible approximation.

Location: Warsaw

Funding: Grant fellowship: 5000 PLN/month, gross, for 4 years/ The scholarship will be paid in accordance with the regulations regarding the amount of the scholarship established by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education

Note: A separate ranking list will be created for this topic

Subject: Impact of global warming on large river sinuosity

Supervisor: Dr hab. Michael Nones, prof. IG PAS, mnones@igf.edu.pl , Hydrology and Hydrodynamic Department

REQUIREMENTS:

Master degree in hydraulic engineering, geophysics, geomorphology or a related topic e.g.: Civil or Environmental Engineering, Water Management, Physical Geography, Remote Sensing, or similar subjects.
Very good Experience in remote sensing and GIS
Good knowledge of coding and programming skills (e.g. MATLAB, PYTHON, R, etc.).
Experience in delivering seminars and writing articles/reports
Willingness to travel for research visits and conferences. The willingness to promote the project to the lay public is greatly appreciated.
Very good English speaking and writing skills enabling the presentation of results at international conferences, communication, reading and writing research papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Good interpersonal skills and the willingness to work in a multicultural team are expected

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The position is financed under the NCN SONATA BIS 13 project no. 2022/46/E/ST10/00266 entitled ” Impact of global warming on large river sinuosity”. The position is fiannced for 48 months.

Taking advantage of free satellite images handled with Google Earth Engine, this project aims to investigate the impact that global warming has on large rivers, looking at changes in their sinuosity and the development of riparian vegetation within their banks. As lateral migration of river channels allows for connecting the main river with its floodplains, eventually controlling sediment deposition and carbon stock outside of the main current, a reduction in river sinuosity might have negative feedback on the greenhouse-gas budgets of the Earth through the competing effects of silicate weathering and organic matter degradation under a warming climate.

Existing studies correlating changes in river sinuosity with climate are limited to cold regions, as those regions are more sensitive to climate change, and are experiencing a faster rate of warming. However, a global dataset of changes in river sinuosity is still missing, and the present project will address this knowledge gap by analyzing large watercourses flowing at all latitudes.

During the project the following research questions will be addressed, and the associated hypotheses tested:

Q1: What key metrics can be used to infer trends in river sinuosity and vegetation encroachment, using free satellite imagery?

H1: Landsat data can be used to investigate long-term trends of large rivers, and common metrics (e.g., Normalized Difference Vegetation Index-NDVI, Modified Normalized Difference Water Index-MNDWI) can give reliable estimates of variations at non-detailed scales.

Q2: What key metrics can be used to infer trends in global warming, with particular reference to riverine environments?

H2: Satellite-derived indexes are reliable in providing large-scale trends of climate variables such as air temperature, soil moisture and precipitation.

Q3: Does global warming affect river sinuosity at spatiotemporal scales observable via remote sensing at all latitudes? Is 40-year (Landsat data) a sufficiently long period to observe climate-driven changes in the fluvial platform?

H3: A hotter climate is contributing to reducing overland flow and seepage discharge along channel banks, and favoring the encroachment of vegetation on floodplains and banks, therefore stabilizing and strengthening river channels, with a reduction in sinuosity. The Landsat dataset is sufficiently long (40 years) to observe changes regardless of latitude.

Q4: What are the key drivers of the decrease in river sinuosity?

H4: Global warming is not only increasing the frequency of extreme events such as floods, which are paramount in increasing river sinuosity, but also reducing normal flow, therefore allowing vegetation to encroach banks, and reducing river sinuosity.

Q5: Is it possible to relate changes observed now in the Arctic regions to changes observed in the past at lower latitudes?

H5: The reduction in river sinuosity happens across all climate zones, but its timing and magnitude are different. However, given that changes are relatively fast, it is possible to track their history and compare different climatic areas.

The project aims to creating

unique datasets on river sinuosity, vegetation development and global warming metrics;
develop free GEE algorithms and R codes to analyze satellite images and correlate river sinuosity with global warming metrics
a baseline for investigating the influence of global warming on fluvial geomorphology.

TASKS DESCRIPTION:

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate to join our computational imaging research teams at the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences. The candidate will work on using Google Earth Engine to recognize relationships between river planform morphology, changes in riparian vegetation, and global warming.

The student will be part of a solution-oriented dynamic international team created under the NCN SONATA BIS 13 project no. 2022/46/E/ST10/00266 entitled ” Impact of global warming on large river sinuosity”, and contribute to advancing the state-of-the-art in both theory and application of remote sensing in fluvial environments.

The student is expected to:

analyze existing literature on using satellite imagery and Google Earth Engine for investigating riverine dynamics and climate change trends
create and maintain a global dataset of satellite-related metrics and indexes on river dynamics and climate change
analyze case studies in detail, eventually interacting with local stakeholders
report the research results in related national and international scientific conferences
co-author scientific articles and technical reports

Location: Warsaw

Note: A separate ranking list will be created for this topic