PhD Student in Computational Snow Physics (100%)

OST - Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, is the university of applied sciences for the six cantons of Eastern Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. We are an innovative and dynamic university with forward-thinking concepts and innovations, providing a major economic and social contribution to the development of Eastern Switzerland. With around 3,800 students spread across six Schools, 1,500 professionals pursuing executive education, and over 1,000 current research projects, we are Eastern Switzerland's regional educational hub.   EPFL - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, is Europe's most cosmopolitan technical university. EPFL collaborates with an important network of partners, including other universities and colleges, secondary schools and gymnasiums, industry and the economy, political circles, and the general public, with the aim of having a real impact on society.   WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF in Davos studies snow, the atmosphere, natural hazards, permafrost, and mountain ecological systems.   Per 1st of January 2025 or upon agreement we are looking for an enthusiastic   PhD Student in Computational Snow Physics (100%)   based at OST, Rapperswil, embedded into the doctoral school of EPFL, and collaborating with SLF.    The project: Snow is a highly dynamic porous material mainly made from ice. As the snow structure evolves via so-called snow metamorphism, so evolve macroscopic properties as e.g., radiative properties relevant for surface energy balances and remote sensing. However, the increased understanding of snow processes has not yet found its way into adequate representations at larger scales. One reason is the lack of sufficiently complete metamorphism models that allow for a direct link between ice crystal growth, sublimation, sintering, and bulk properties; another reason is the contrast between empirical approaches of classical snow science versus methods based on fundamental physics.   Within a project financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNF, we strive to develop a versatile snow metamorphism model that is based on the phase-field methodology and to couple it to radiative transfer models. Comparison with data acquired in paralleling projects running at WSL/SLF and EPFL and analyses using machine learning shall be used to develop upscaling techniques and parametrizations for large scale predictions, e.g., in the context of photovoltaic installations in complex, snow covered terrain. 

Have we aroused your interest and do you have the desired qualifications? Then send us your complete application documents by using our online tool. For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Thomas Kaempfer, OST, thomas.kaempfer@ost.ch, +41 79 626 46 37 or, for specific questions on the EPFL doctoral school, Prof. Dr. Michael Lehning, EPFL/SLF, lehning@slf.ch