The Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences 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 four doctoral topics to the GeoPlanet Doctoral School.
Recruitment for the GeoPlanet Doctoral School by July 31, 2026
Studies last 4 years and begin on October 1, 2026. 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 3.570,50 PLN/month, gross (ca. 3.168,46 PLN/month net), before the mid-term evaluation (years 1–2) and 5.500,50 PLN/month, gross (ca. 4.881,14 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.
The documents should be sent in electronic form in one PDF file (by e-mail, in the order as above 1-7) only to the address: studia.doktoranckie@igf.edu.pl by July 31, 2026. The documents send 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, June, 2026
Subjects:
Project 1
Optimization of oceanic bottom seismic data acquisition to improve the quality of crustal-scale seismic imaging
Supervisor: dr hab inż. Andrzej Górszczyk agorszczyk@igf.edu.pl, Department of Geophysical Imaging
REQUIREMENTS:
- Completed second-cycle (Master’s) studies in geoinformatics, geophysics, physics, or a related field.
- Knowledge of research topics related to seismic tomography, seismic wave propagation, seismic imaging, numerical methods, and inversion techniques.
- Programming skills (Fortran, C++, Python).
- Knowledge of the basics of seismic data processing.
- Familiarity with systems/software used on computing clusters.
- Very good command of English, enabling the presentation of results at international conferences, communication, reading of scientific papers, and writing.Applicant should hold a degree in physics, geophysics, mathematics, informatics, or a related subject.
TASKS DESCRIPTION:
- Development of optimal regularization schemes for velocity model reconstruction based on synthetic and real OBS-type seismic data.
- Investigation of the limitations and advantages of different tomographic approaches in high-resolution crustal model reconstruction.
- Collaboration with team members and international partners on the development and application of full-waveform inversion methods at the crustal scale.
- Preparation, organization, and execution of related analyses.
- Preparation of scientific articles and conference presentations.
- Reporting on work progress.
Summary of the doctoral project:
The core scientific problem this project seeks to address is the need to evolve the current paradigm of how OBS data are acquired during academic seismic surveys and how they are routinely processed. A key limitation of these surveys (from the perspective of modern processing techniques such as full-waveform inversion – FWI) is the sparse receiver deployments, which result in insufficient illumination of the target, as well as a lack of multi-azimuthal coverage from typical 2D profiles. This situation persists despite the availability of well-established imaging algorithms supported by advanced computing power, which are capable of generating high-fidelity regional geological models but cannot be fully exploited without optimized OBS data. While this suboptimal data acquisition is partly due to budgetary and time constraints in academic surveys, we may also argue that the prevailing practice of sparse 2D OBS deployments has led to the widespread use of computationally inexpensive traveltime inversion, which allows to quickly generate a range of smooth velocity models that fit the traveltimes with similar kinematic errors. This approach does not drive progress toward better-optimized data acquisition. Instead, academic surveys should be designed to meet the demands of modern processing techniques and, where necessary, improve the conventional approaches.
From a seismic survey perspective, “optimal OBS acquisition” refers to a set of key parameters – such as survey geometry, source/receiver configurations, etc. – that will allow for the best possible reconstruction of the target. Therefore, it must be tailored to the method, target, and available resources. But is it possible to determine these acquisition parameters based on limited a priori knowledge of the subsurface? How should the geometry of the acquisition change when considering ray-based traveltime tomography (TT) versus wave-based FWI? In what scenarios might a sparser 3D OBS deployment be preferable to a densely sampled 2D profile? What shot/receiver configuration would be most effective?
Conversely, we can consider optimizing OBS acquisition at the data processing stage. Here, the objective is to fine-tune the processing approach so that it makes the best use of the existing dataset to reconstruct the target within the available computational resources. Therefore, is it possible to design a data-selection or data-weighting approach that achieves optimal or uniform subsurface sampling for a given processing method? How would this optimal sampling differ between ray-based and wave-based techniques? Moreover, could the dataset be “sparsified” to optimize subsurface sampling while minimizing the computational load of large-scale regional models? How much could compressive sensing and advanced regularization techniques help reduce the data volume that needs to be processed?
Answering these questions and finding associated solutions are the primary scientific goals of this project. We live in an era where enormous amounts of data are collected on nearly every aspect of life, including geophysical investigations of our planet. As the volume of data grows, it is critical that we learn to optimize both the collection and utilization of data to maximize its value for the advanced processing tools at our disposal. Only by doing so can we find a balance between the potential of advanced processing techniques and academic OBS data acquisition strategies that fully exploit this potential.
Location: Cracow
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, NCN SONATA-BIS; 48 months 24×5000 PLN and 24×6500 PLN (gross)/ 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
Project 2
Geomagnetic dynamo generated by turbulent wave field
Supervisor: dr hab. Krzysztof Mizerski, prof. IG PAS kamiz@igf.edu.pl, Magnetism Department
REQUIREMENTS:
- Master degree in physics, mathematics or engineering.
- Programming skills.
- Good knowledge of electrodynamics and fluid mechanics.
- Good knowledge of English. `
TASKS DESCRIPTION:
- Application of the fully three-dimensional code (created and owned by the PI) 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. Summary of the doctoral project.
Summary of the doctoral project:
The aim of the project is to obtain the description of hydromagnetic dynamo process in non-equilibrium turbulence. Simulations performed by the Ph.D. student will constitute an important contribution to the theory, by verifying the essence of the effect of beating waves in the turbulent wave field. They will also help to determine the effect of the beating waves on excursions and reversals in the context of the geomagnetic field.
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
Project 3
Assessment of the reliability of earthquake preparation process indicators in a controlled seismicity model environment: from physical controls to pattern recognition
Supervisor: prof. dr hab. inż. Beata Orlecka-Sikora,orlecka@igf.edu.pl , Department of Seismology
REQUIREMENTS:
- Master’s degree in geophysics, applied mathematics, physics, or a related field; demonstrated skills in numerical modelling, statistical analysis and programming (e.g., Python, R, or MATLAB, C/C++).
TASKS DESCRIPTION:
- Critical review of seismicity model classes with respect to their ability to reproduce progressive shear zone localization (e.g., ETAS and alternatives); implementation and calibration of selected models (e.g., statistical, rate-and-state based, and potentially custom hybrid models) in a numerical environment.
- Systematic generation of synthetic seismic catalogues under diverse model parameter scenarios; evaluation of earthquake preparation process (EPP) indicator behaviour, in particular SSD and dc, on synthetic catalogues and identification of conditions under which SSD–dc trajectories are consistent with real observations.
- Statistical testing (Monte Carlo simulations, resampling methods) to assess the significance and reproducibility of observed EPP patterns and to separate signal from random variability.
- Validation of EPP indicators on selected real seismicity cases under diverse seismotectonic conditions, with particular attention to the role of normal stress and pore pressure as factors modulating SSD–dc trajectories.
- Design of a synthetic space for machine learning: selection and characterisation of synthetic catalogues with respect to the representativeness of seismotectonic conditions and coverage of the EPP parameter space, in collaboration with the team developing AI models within the TrackPreQuake project.
- Collaboration with the project team on method development, interpretation of results, and preparation of scientific publications.
Summary of the doctoral project::
The doctoral thesis focuses on the assessment of earthquake preparation process (EPP) indicators — seismic strain dynamics (SSD), a measure of the mean rate of inelastic deformation, and the seismic regularity coefficient (dc), a measure of the standard deviation of the spatial inelastic strain rate — using synthetic seismicity catalogues as a controlled testing environment. The research begins with testing the classical epidemic-type aftershock sequence model (ETAS) and demonstrating its limitations in reproducing progressive shear zone localization expressed in the SSD–dc space. The candidate will systematically extend the simulation environment with alternative seismicity models, including rate-and-state based models and potentially custom hybrid models, evaluating their ability to faithfully reproduce the characteristic SSD–dc trajectory observed prior to significant seismic events. Particular attention will be paid to seismotectonic conditions — the role of normal stress and pore pressure — as factors modulating the shape of this trajectory, which will be verified on selected real cases of anthropogenic seismicity. Validated seismicity models will be used to construct a synthetic space for machine learning models developed within the TrackPreQuake project. The work constitutes a significant contribution to the development of reliable, AI-based tools for the identification of strain localization patterns and seismic hazard assessment.
Location: Cracow
Source of research funding:
Funding: NCN OPUS 28 project, Decision No. DEC-2024/55/B/ST10/01041 (36 months), and statutory funding from the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (12 months)
Note: A separate ranking list will be created for this topic