Doctoral Student in Glaciology and Glacial Hazards

ETH Zurich invites applications for a four-year doctoral position within the Professorship of Glaciology, affiliated with the Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL). The research is part of the ICEFAL project, a Swiss-French consortium studying climate warming impacts on cold hanging glaciers and ice avalanche risks in the Alps. The successful candidate will combine high-elevation fieldwork, thermo-mechanical modeling using Elmer/Ice, and geospatial analyses to evaluate glacier temperature fields and stability. Candidates with a Master’s degree in a relevant quantitative or scientific discipline and a strong interest in high-mountain hazards are encouraged to apply.

• Create and maintain an inventory of hanging glaciers using manual mapping and machine-learning aided techniques.
• Conduct high-elevation fieldwork in Switzerland to collect ice temperatures, mass balance data, firn cores, and monitoring records.
• Drive state-of-the-art thermo-mechanical numerical models, such as Elmer/Ice, using field and meteorological data.
• Predict basal temperatures of hanging glaciers and intersect them with mechanical stability criteria to construct a regional hazard index.
• Collaborate with project partners and senior researchers across a Swiss-French academic consortium.