PhD Position in Physics

Your job

The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and the polar ice sheets (Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets) play important roles in the climate system and have all been identified as large scale tipping elements, albeit on very different time scales. While for each of these tipping elements critical thresholds remain matter of active research, they also interact with each other. In fact, the AMOC and polar ice sheets form an intricate network of multiscale systems, with interactions that can be stabilizing or destabilizing, the latter opening the possibility of cascading tipping events.

Moreover, the interaction between these large scale systems happens via other possibly nonlinearly acting subsystems such as the North Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) and Arctic and Antarctic sea ice cover, involving processes on smaller scales, which are often not well represented in modelling efforts focusing on the large scale tipping elements.

For this PhD position you will work on modelling the processes and feedbacks that couple the AMOC and polar ice sheets, with particular focus on sea ice and (North Atlantic) deep-water formation regions such as in the SPG. We will make use of models of different complexity up to complex Earth System models, and modelling efforts for different past periods.

A personalised training programme will be set up, reflecting your training needs and career objectives. About 20% of your time will be dedicated to this training component, which includes following courses/workshops as well as training on the job in assisting in the Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes of the department of Physics at Utrecht University.

Your qualities

We are looking for an ambitious and driven candidate who has:

• a MSc in physics, applied mathematics, meteorology, geosciences or a related field;
• experience in climate modeling (considered an advantage); 
• basic knowledge of (geophysical) fluid dynamics (considered an advantage);
• excellent skills in scientific programming and numerical / statistical analysis of simulated and observed data.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate motivation and a strong eagerness to learn, and have the ability to both work independently and as part of a team. Previous research experience will be a distinct advantage.

Our offer

• A job with national and international collaboration;
• a position for 4 years. After 18 months there will be a review. If positive, it will be 4 years;
• a fulltime working week and a gross monthly salary between € 2.901 and €3.707 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employmentlaid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

About us

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Working at the Faculty of Science means bringing together inspiring people across disciplines and with a variety of perspectives and backgrounds. The Faculty has six departments: Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Information & Computing Sciences, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Together, we work on excellent research and inspiring education. We do so, driven by curiosity and supported by outstanding infrastructure. Visit us on LinkedIn and discover how you can become part of our community.

The Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research Utrecht (IMAU) is part of the department of Physics. It offers a unique research and teaching environment, in which the fundamentals of the climate system are studied. Research is organised in five themes: Ice and Climate, Oceans and Climate, Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry, Coastal and Shelf Sea Dynamics and Earth System modelling. In 2022, IMAU research quality and impact were qualified as 'excellent' by an international visitation committee. Currently, IMAU employs 18 faculty members and 11 support staff and about 21 Postdocs and 24 PhD candidates.

This project is part of the 10-year EMBRACER research programme funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). At EMBRACER, we work at the very frontiers of knowledge on climate change, Earth’s climate system and climate feedbacks. The programme brings together a wide range of world-leading climate experts with the aim to address existing uncertainties about climate feedbacks at the boundaries between oceans, land, ice, and atmosphere. Our interdisciplinary approach and state-of-the-art infrastructure will bring us forward in our understanding of the impact of climate feedbacks emerging over the next decades to centuries.

More information

For more information, please contact Anna von der Heydt A.S.vonderHeydt@uu.nl.

Do you have a question about the application procedure? Please send an email to science.recruitment@uu.nl.

Apply now

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute.

If you are enthusiastic about this position, just apply via the "Apply now" button! Please enclose:

• your letter of motivation;
• your curriculum vitae;
• Optional: the names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of at least two references;
• Optional: a copy of your PhD certificate, or a letter from your university stating when your defence will take place.

If this specific opportunity isn’t for you, but you know someone else who may be interested, please forward this vacancy to them.

The application deadline is 31 August 2025.