Two positions in landscape response to retreating glaciers

PhD Positions on Climate-Induced Geohazards

Mountain ranges are the primary source of global sediment and hotspots of geohazards. In their high-altitude, alpine regions, climate change is accelerating erosion and landslide activity due to rapid post-glacial landscape adjustment and permafrost degradation. While most current observations of these processes span just a few years or decades, there is an urgent need to understand how these dynamics unfold over much longer timescales (102 to 104 years) to quantify the impact of present, past and future glacial-interglacial climate changes.

This NWO-funded project (Dutch Research Council) aims to tackle this research gap by examining the interactions among erosion, topography, and sediment fluxes over millennial timescales in the Western Southern Alps of New Zealand, and how they are influenced by tectonics. Gaining such insights is crucial for predicting the magnitude and location of future climate-induced geohazards in alpine regions.

This project will consist of two tightly integrated PhD positions:

PhD A: Quantifying Post-Glacial Erosion and Sediment Dynamics

• This project will employ a combination of well-established and innovative geochronological techniques, such as 10Be-derived erosion rates, tracer thermochronology, and novel in-situ 14C/10Be ratios as a proxy for landsliding. Samples will be collected on the Southern Alps of New Zealand across a gradient of tectonic and climatic conditions.

PhD B: Developing a Next-Generation Landscape Evolution Model

• In this project, you will develop the POLISHED model—POst gLacIal Surface and geocHronological Evolution Dynamics—designed to simulate hillslope processes and fluvial dynamics during deglaciation, and to explicitly simulate the accumulation and transport of geochronological tracers and track sediment provenance. This project also includes a data collection field campaign in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.

Models and data will eventually be used to predict the impact of deglaciation on current mountain risk associated with climate change.

Your Profile

We are looking for someone who is highly motivated to advance science on how retreating glaciers shape Earth’s surface. This comes with a willingness to learn how to conduct lab work and/or how to use and implement open-source computational models. Moreover, you should be willing to conduct fieldwork for several weeks in the Southern Alps mountains.

Besides, you:

• hold a MSc degree (or equivalent) in Earth Sciences or related field (you can apply provided your MSc diploma will be obtained before the start of the position).
• are comfortable and enjoy working in a team and in close collaboration with other PhD students.
• are eager to learn how to write journal articles in English, culminating in a dissertation, and publishing these in leading scientific journals.
• are interested in contributing to teaching and supervising bachelor and master students.
• are motivated to attend and present at international conferences.

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for everyone, realizing that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our education, research and services. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community, so that we can use diversity as added value.

We recognize that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise, and mindset. We would like to invite everyone who recognizes themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements. We particularly encourage people from under-represented groups to apply.

What do we offer?

An exciting position in a socially engaged organization. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research, and service for a better world. In return we offer you:

• At the VU, a salary of € 2,872 (gross) per month during the first year that increases to a maximum of € 3,670 (gross) per month in the fourth year, for full-time employment.
• an employment contract of initially 1 year, which will be extended to a total of 4 years based on good performance. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Contribution to commuting expenses.
• Optional model for designing a personalized benefits package.
• Discounts on collective insurances (healthcare and car insurance).

About Us

Faculty of Science
Researchers and students at VU Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science tackle fundamental and complex scientific problems to help pave the way for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, and from molecules to the moon: we cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. Our teaching and research have a strong experimentally technical, computational, and interdisciplinary nature.

We work on new solutions guided by value-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies. We are committed to research, valorisation and training socially engaged citizens of the world who will make valuable contributions to a sustainable, healthy future.

Are you interested in joining the Faculty of Science? You will join undergraduate students, PhD candidates and researchers at the biggest sciences faculty in the Netherlands. You will combine a professional focus with a broad view of the world. We are proud of our collegial working climate, characterized by committed staff, a pragmatic attitude, and engagement in the larger whole. The faculty is home to over 11,000 students enrolled in 40 study programs. It employs over 1,600 professionals spread across 10 academic departments.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely. - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance, and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and the planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research.

Interested?

Are you interested in one of these two positions? Please apply via the application button and upload a PDF that includes:

1. A CV, listing at the end the names and contact details of two referees.
2. A 1-2 page cover letter outlining your background, previous research experience, qualities that make you ideally suited for one of these positions, and interest in the project. Please also specify if you have a preference for one of the two PhD positions, or are interested in both.
3. Academic transcripts and diplomas of previous academic degrees.

Timeline: Applications will remain open until November 15th, and we aim to conduct online interviews in November/December 2024. The start date is negotiable, but ideally in the first half of 2025.

Applications received by email will not be processed.