PhD student in atmospheric science in polar environments
Inseriert am: 13.11.2019
The Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs 6,000 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of 16,000 people, including over 10,000 students and 3,500 researchers from 120 different countries.
PhD student in atmospheric science in polar environments
Your mission :
EPFL is creating a new Alpine and Polar Environments Research Centre (ALPOLE) as part of the expansion of the EPFL Sion campus. The establishment of ALPOLE recognizes the global relevance of changes taking place in high-altitude and high-latitude environments, which are sentinels of climate change. The Extreme Environments Research Laboratory at ALPOLE focuses amongst other on understanding natural and anthropogenic atmospheric processes, as well as exchange processes between the atmosphere and cryosphere, ocean and (inhabited) land that have climate impact and are impacted by climate.The laboratory is building a new facility based on lightweight high-end atmospheric sensors and a helikite as platform. Your mission and goal is to close our knowledge gap of vertical aerosol and trace gas profiles in different types of extreme environments. The first deployment of the facility will be during the ‘Alaskan Layered Pollution And Chemical Analysis’ (ALPACA) project in Fairbanks early in 2021 to study wintertime atmospheric pollution processes across strong inversions. Further deployments in the Arctic and potentially Antarctica are planned. We are looking for a PhD student who is eager to develop a lightweight sensor package supported by the staff of the laboratory, and who is willing and able to work in challenging outdoor conditions with complex instrumentation. Main duties and responsibilities include :
Perform research in the field of polar atmospheric science
Development of a lightweight atmospheric sensor package for vertical profiling with support from the laboratory
Organizing and conducting field campaigns
Analysis and modeling of the acquired and ancillary data
Collaboration with the international partners of the laboratory
Report regularly to the collaborators and present research results at scientific meetings
Publish in international peer-reviewed journals
Participate in education and teaching at EPFL
Promote polar and alpine research and its impact to the public
Your profile :
Master degree in atmospheric or environmental science or a related field
Ability to produce data from field experiments and capability of critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of new and complex ideas
Enthusiasm for field campaigns
Ability to communicate the outcome of your research
Good interpersonal skills, team player
Good knowledge of English (written and spoken)
Good programming skills will be an advantage
We offer :
A dynamic, interdisciplinary and young research group
A vibrant, internationally visible and rising academic institution in alpine and polar environments research
A great working atmosphere and ample opportunities for professional and personal development
For further Information about this project and the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory please contact Prof. Julia Schmale.
PhD applicants must be accepted by the EPFL Doctoral School in order to pursue a PhD. For more information, please see www.epfl.ch/education/phd/programs/edce-civil-and-environmental-engineering-2/. Start date :
