The Université Grenoble Alpes (France) and Swansea University (United Kingdom), jointly invite applications for a three-year co-tutelle PhD programme focussing on
"Stability of Antarctic Ice Shelves: Implications in terms of sea level rise"
Project Supervisors:
Supervisor 1 – Dr. Emmanuel Le Meur, Université Grenoble Alpes
Supervisor 2 – Dr. Stephen Cornford, Swansea University
Supervisor 3 – Prof. Adrian Luckman, Swansea University
Supervisor 4 – Dr. Fabien Gillet-Chaulet, Université Grenoble Alpes
Closing date: 1 September 2018
Start date: 1 October 2018
Project Description: The Antarctic Ice Sheet has been losing mass for the last 25 years, primarily through the acceleration of its outlet glaciers in response to the weakening of the floating ice shelves that fringe the continent. While state-of-the art models capture the major processes implicated in the flow of the glaciers, they do not represent all of the important processes in the ice shelves, to the extent that Antarctic ice dynamics represents the largest single source of uncertainty in 21st century sea level rise.
The project aim is develop a new software component for the world-leading ice sheet model, Elmer/Ice (Gagliardini, et. al., 2013), test it against field and satellite observations, and use it to forecast the fate of Antarctica's Larsen C ice shelf. The upgraded model will be validated by comparing its results with field data, some of which the student may have the opportunity to collect, from a network of GPS beacons stationed on the Astrolabe Glacier in Adélie Land, East Antarctica, and with satellite observations of the well-documented collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula. The final stage of the project will be use the upgraded model to simulate a possible future collapse of the Larsen C ice shelf, an event that may be underway already following the calving of one of the largest icebergs ever observed, the 160 km long A68 iceberg, in 2017.
The project will be supervised by Dr Emmanuel Le Meur and Dr Fabien Glliet-Chaulet at Universite Grenoble Alpes, and by Dr. Stephen Cornford and Prof. Adrian Luckman at Swansea University, and will make use of the state of the art high performance computing facilities at both universities. A total of 18 months will be spent at Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Geophysique de lEnvironnement, (now Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement) Université Grenoble Alpes, and 18 months in the Department of Geography, College of Science at Swansea University.
Candidate requirements:
The candidate should hold a Master's degree in a relevant discipline, or be expect to gain one by October 2018, or have a university degree equivalent to a European Master's (5-year duration). Informal enquiries before the closing date are welcome by emailing Dr Stephen Cornford (s.l.cornford@swansea.ac.uk). The successful candidate will need to develop scientific programming skills, so that experience with differential and integral calculus is essential and experience with Fortran 90, C, or Python programming is highly desirable.
For candidates whose first language is not English, we require IELTS 6.5 (with 6.0 in each component) or equivalent. Please visit our website for a list of acceptable English language tests. We prefer candidates to have already met the English Language requirements at the point of application, although this is not a requirement. Competence in French is highly desirable, and would be a substantial advantage for day to day activities.
Funding:
This is a three year fully-funded College of Science, Swansea University/Université Grenoble Alpes scholarship, open to UK/EU candidates which includes an annual stipend of £14,777 plus full UK/EU tuition fees.
How to apply:
Applicants must complete and submit the following documentation by the stated deadline.
To apply for this studentship, please download the research scholarship application form (http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/Scholarship%20application%20(College%20of%20Science)v2%20(8).pdf) and return it to the College of Science with the following:
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Academic References – all scholarship applications require two supporting references to be submitted. Please ensure that your chosen referees are aware of the funding deadline, as their references form a vital part of the evaluation process. Please either include these with your scholarship application or ask your referees to send them directly to science-scholarships@swansea.ac.uk
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Academic Transcripts and Degree Certificates – academic transcripts and degree certificates must be submitted along with the scholarship application by the funding deadline. We will be using these to verify your academic qualifications.
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CV – please include a recent CV
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A short presentation describing your final year scientific project (2 to 3 pages max)
Applicants should use the 'Supplementary Personal Statement' section of the application form to explain why the award they are applying for particularly matches their skills and experience and how they would choose to develop the project.
Please email the documents to science-scholarships@swansea.ac.uk or post them to:
Recruitment and Marketing Team
College of Science
Wallace Building
Swansea University
Singleton Park
Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Contact Information for informal enquiries:
Swansea University: Dr Stephen Cornford (s.l.cornford@swansea.ac.uk)
Université Grenoble Alpes : Dr Emmanuel Le Meur (emmanuel.lemeur@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr)
