Doctoral researcher (f_m_x) – Terrestrial and Cryo-Hydrological Gravimetry

The GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences is one of the world's leading institutions in the field of geosciences. As part of the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest research organisation, we address global challenges such as natural hazards, climate change and the sustainable use of resources. In doing so, we combine cutting-edge research with social relevance. Our international staff - around 1,200 employees and approx. 500 guests - work in a multidisciplinary way and with a unique infrastructure to research the dynamic processes of the Earth system. Our vision: “Taking the pulse of the Earth to safeguard a habitable planet.”

For section 1.2 Global Geomonitoring and Gravity Field (department Geodesy), we are looking for a:

Doctoral researcher (f_m_x) – Terrestrial and Cryo-Hydrological Gravimetry

Reference Number 11591

The GFZ department "Geodesy" has five independent sections that together advance the goals of the Helmholtz research programme "Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future" and provide important GFZ services and infrastructure within the Modular Earth Science Infrastructure (MESI). With this call, we are looking for a PhD student for section 1.2 "Global Geomonitoring and Gravity Field". This section focuses on developing and operating infrastructure for gravity field observations from global to local scales, with applications spanning geodynamic and climatic processes, water budgets, and hazard monitoring.

The PhD position is part of the ERC Synergy Grant Project "SnowShifts - Current and future shifts of snow regimes in extreme environments" seeking to significantly enhance our comprehension of snow volume and mass, their non-linear dynamics and properties and, specifically, snow regime shifts within the Earth and climate systems. The PhD student will be embedded in a highly vibrant team of PhD students and Postdocs from the project partners at the University of Oslo, BOKU Vienna, EPFL Lausanne and CNRS CESBIO Toulouse. The PhD student will be responsible for high-resolution snow mass quantification at local scales based on superconducting gravimetry at focus sites in high mountains (Zugspitze, Lhasa) and polar regions (Ny-Ålesund, Syowa, Jang Bogo). The joint analysis of terrestrial and satellite gravimetry will be carried out in a team with a Postdoc who will be responsible for the quantification of regional snow mass variations using spatio-temporally downscaled data from the GRACE/GRACE-FO and the upcoming GRACE-C satellite missions.