Postdoctoral position in physical geography - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Postdoctoral position in physical geography

Are you interested to work with glaciers, machine learning emulators and digital twins, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favorable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a postdoctoral position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Earth Sciences is one of Europe's most comprehensive earth science departments, with approximately 300 employees. Our activities are interdisciplinary and combine natural science and technology with social science. We have research programs in air, water and landscape science; geophysics; natural resources and sustainable development; petrology, mineralogy and tectonics; paleobiology, and wind energy. By investigating the history of Earth, we understand how our planet has developed over time and how sustainable development benefits from this knowledge. For more information: The Department of Earth Sciences

The announced position is in the research program Air, Water and Landscape Science (LUVAL) which brings together research and education in hydrology, meteorology, environmental analysis and physical geography. The research in physical geography has a main interest in cold environments, with a primary focus on glaciological topics, but also other aspects of the cryosphere.

Duties

The postdoctoral researcher will work in the TerraDT project funded by the European Commision (www.terradt.eu). Linked to the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative, which creates advanced Digital Twins of the Earth, TerraDT enhances the modelling of the Earth system to better understand and predict climate change. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the development of a new land ice digital twin component, which will be coupled to the ICON climate model. Ice flow will be simulated with the dynamical model Elmer/Ice, for which new boundary models for sliding and calving will be tested. Furthermore, a new Full-Stokes emulator will be developed, which will accelerate model spin-up and thickness estimation (through inverse modelling) as well as uncertainty quantification. Glaciers in the Svalbard archipelago will be used as a test case, but also large-scale applications to Greenland and Antarctica are anticipated.

The postdoctoral position is for up to 3 years, with an earliest starting in January 2026. The postdoctoral researcher will be based in Uppsala and collaborate closely with colleagues in Helsinki (CSC) and Hamburg (MPI and DKRZ). There may be opportunities to participate in glacier fieldwork.

Requirements

PhD degree in Physical Geography or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in Physical Geography. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Priority will be given to applicants who have completed their degree no more than three years before the deadline for applications.  Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

Furthermore, we are looking for applicants with previous experience working with glaciers, ice dynamical modelling, inverse methods, and the use of machine learning/emulators. 

The applicant must be proficient in spoken and written English and have documented experience in publishing research in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The applicant should be able to formulate research questions, carry out research, and publish the results independently.

Additional qualifications

As the applicant is likely to participate in glacier fieldwork, previous experience with field work on glaciers is a merit. Furthermore, programming skills in Python or similar are valued. Finally, familiarity with spatial analysis software (e.g. QGIS or ArcGIS) is a merit.

About the employment

The employment is a temporary position of up to 3 years according to central collective agreement. The employment ends 31-12-2028. Scope of employment: 100 %. Starting date 01-01-2026, or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact:  Ward van Pelt, ward.van.pelt@geo.uu.se

Please submit your application by November 11, 2025, UFV-PA 2025/3156.

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