Long-term trends in the stratosphere
Middle atmosphere localized gravity wave forcing
Hydrological extremes in the landscape as a response to climate change in the near future
Wind-tunnel modeling of the atmospheric boundary layer
The role of coherent structures’ dynamics on the passive scalar transport in the surface layer

 
 

Applications for the co-funded Ph.D. positions – general information

Ph.D. positions at the Department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University that are co-funded by specific research projects are automatically connected with a job position/employment and a salary added to the monthly Ph.D. scholarship. For more information on Ph.D. studies at the Department of Atmospheric Physics, please see https://kfa.mff.cuni.cz/phd.

The following positions are available from October 2021 (please see details below). Successful applicants will enter the Ph.D. study program in October 2021. In case of interest, please contact us at kfa@mff.cuni.cz.

Particular study plans and details of the research positions will be specified personally with successful candidates. The research project’s funding may depend on the approval of the funding agencies.

Please send your application by April 20, 2021, to kfa@mff.cuni.cz (with an indication of which project position you are interested in)

Please include:

  1. Academic CV and a pdf of your diplomas including (link to the) the diploma thesis
  2. List of course topics related to meteorology, air quality, climate modeling, or atmospheric physics
  3. Specification of programming and language skills
  4. List of publications (if any)
  5. List of research projects (if any)
  6. Statement of research interests and career goals, indicating why you are interested in the position
  7. List of at least two references: names, phone numbers, and email

General Requirements:

  1. Master-of-Science-equivalent degree in meteorology and/or environmental physics with fulfilled courses related to the research project
  2. The candidate should have good experience in Unix / Linux working environments and programming skills in Python.
  3. Strong communication in the English language (spoken and written)
  4. Willingness to interact with an interdisciplinary science community
  5. A creative mindset for scientific research

General Timetable:

  • April 20, 2021 – deadline for the submission of the applications for co-funded Ph.D. positions and the announcement of successful applications
  • April 30, 2021 – deadline for the submission of the applications for the Ph.D. studies
  • June – July 2021 – entrance examination.
  • October 1, 2021 – beginning of the doctoral studies and expected beginning of the research project. The start of the employment is guaranteed, in this case, for EU candidates only. For non-EU candidates, it is necessary to arrange a proper visa, which may take up to several months depending on the country of candidate’s origin.

Admission Procedure in Ph.D. Programs:

Details of the admission procedure in Ph.D. programs can be found here: https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/admissions/admission-procedure-in-phd-programmes/2021-2022 (the information are being updated due to COVID-19 related changes in the anticipated academic calendar 2020/2021).

 
 

Long-term trends in the stratosphere

The Department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University, Prague, invites applications for one 3 years long funded Ph.D. position to join a Czech Science Foundation funded research project aiming at long-term trends of anthropogenic and natural origin in the stratosphere and upper atmosphere.

The research position will be available from October 2021. The position will be primarily connected to the analysis of various trends in the stratosphere, including:

  • comprehensive analysis of trends in the wave momentum fluxes, their spatial distribution, and variability
  • trends in radiative forcing, analysis of the distribution, variability, and trends of the net diabatic term
  • trends in winds, tropical convection, and other parameters influencing the wave propagation, global dynamics, and the ozone concentration
  • collaboration with other research groups oriented on trends in the mesosphere-thermosphere-ionosphere system, ozone
  • participation in the publications preparations

The general outcome of the research project will be a joint scenario of mutually consistent trends in the stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere.

The position will be fulfilled within the project of the Czech Science Foundation – Long-term trends of anthropogenic and natural origin in the stratosphere and upper atmosphere. Previous experience with the middle atmospheric studies will be an advantage. The successful candidate will join a young and ambitious research team at DAP/FMP in Prague and, within the project, will also collaborate with the Czech Academy of Sciences. Ph.D. of the candidates will be fully funded, partly from the mentioned project and partly as a regular monthly scholarship with about 1500 EUR/month total income (+ the scholarship is gradually increased during the study – for details, please see https://kfa.mff.cuni.cz/phd).

 
 

Middle atmosphere localized gravity wave forcing

The Department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University, Prague invites applications for one 3 years long funded PhD position to join a Czech Science Foundation funded research project aiming at localized gravity wave forcing in the middle atmosphere, its formation, impact, and long-term evolution.

The research position will be available from October 2021. The position will be primarily connected to:

  • identification and analysis of GW hotspots using both direct and indirect characteristics
  • analysis of the GW hotspots formations and specific background conditions including the influence of specific meteorological phenomena such as the NAO
  • analysis of the impact on the middle atmospheric dynamics and transport processes
  • impact of climate change on the GW hotspots

The general outcome of the research project will be global identification of GW hotspots in the stratosphere, evaluation of GW hotspots actual impact on middle atmospheric dynamics and investigation of their future evolution.

The position will be fulfilled within the project of the Czech Science Foundation – Middle atmosphere localized gravity wave forcing – formation, impact, and long-term evolution (MATELO-FILE). Previous experience with the middle atmospheric studies will be an advantage. The successful candidate will join a young and ambitious research team at DAP/FMP in Prague and within the project will collaborate also with the team from University Leipzig in Germany. Ph.D. of the candidates will be fully funded, partly from the mentioned project and partly as a regular monthly scholarship with about 1500 EUR/month total income (+ the scholarship is gradually increased during the study – for details, please see https://kfa.mff.cuni.cz/phd).

 
 

Hydrological extremes in the landscape as a response to climate change in the near future

The Department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University, Prague, invites applications for one 4 years long funded Ph.D. position to join a research project aiming at the hydrological response to climate change.

The research position will be available from October 2021. The position will be primarily connected to:

  • Climate projections at the local/regional level (RCMs) into the near future (probably by 2050).
  • Climate modeling outputs will be used as input data for hydrological modeling (with a closer focus on soil erosion and accumulation processes modeling in the landscape).
  • Data on the expected land-use/land cover change in the Czech Republic based on precise environmental modeling techniques will be used as another input.
  • Expected cooperation with a research group at Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences.
  • Participation in the publication outputs and possible new project proposal preparation.

The general outcome of the research project will be an analysis of the spatial distribution of sites significantly prone to the occurrence of extreme hydrological situations as the impact of climate change in Central Europe until 2050.

The position will be fulfilled within the projects and research activities implemented at the Global Change Research Institute CAS (CzechGlobe). Previous experience with hydrological / soil erosion modeling (environmental modeling in general) will be considered an advantage. The successful candidate will cooperate with the research team at DAP/FMP in Prague and also with the Department of carbon storage in the landscape, CzechGlobe in Brno. Ph.D. of the candidates will be fully funded, partly from CzechGlobe financial resources and partly as a regular monthly scholarship with about 1500 EUR/month total income (+ the scholarship is gradually increased during the study – for details, please see https://kfa.mff.cuni.cz/phd).

 
 

Wind-tunnel modeling of the atmospheric boundary layer

The Department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University and the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, invites applications for one 3 years long funded Ph.D. position to join a research project “Temporal and spatial representativeness of the atmospheric boundary layer profiles”. The project holder is the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IT CAS). The Ph.D. candidate will work on the research project at IT CAS and fulfill her/his studying tasks at DAP. Both institutes are situated in the same Prague district and closely cooperate.

The research position will be available from October 2021. The position will be primarily connected to:

  • Wind-tunnel investigation of the spatial and temporal properties of the atmospheric boundary layer flow on the model of the real meteorological site.
  • Measurement with up-to-date experimental techniques (time-resolved particle image velocimetry, Doppler laser anemometry) and data processing – temporal and spatial correlations, energetic spectra, integral scales, etc.
  • Comparison of the modeled and measured data. Comparison with other European sites (data from partner institutions from the COST Action CA18235).
  • Participation in the publications preparations.

The position will be fulfilled within the project of the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – Temporal and spatial representativeness of the atmospheric boundary layer profiles. The project is a part of the European network project – COST Action CA18235, Profiling the atmospheric boundary layer at European scale, http://www.probe-cost.eu. Previous experience with the atmospheric boundary layer studies and measurement campaigns will be an advantage. The successful candidate will join a young and ambitious research team at IT CAS in Prague and will collaborate also with European partners within the COST Action. Ph.D. of the candidates will be fully funded, partly from the mentioned project and partly as a regular monthly scholarship with about 1000-1500 EUR/month total income (+ the scholarship is gradually increased during the study – for details, please see https://kfa.mff.cuni.cz/phd).

 
 

The role of coherent structures’ dynamics on the passive scalar transport in the surface layer

The Department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University and the Institute of Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, invite applications for one funded Ph.D. position to join a research project aiming at scalar transport in the surface layer.

The research position will be available from October 2021. The project objective is to verify/reject the hypothesis of coherent structures’ dynamics on the passive scalar transport in the surface layer. Two cases of scalar transport in a fully developed turbulent flow will be studied experimentally (using physical modeling in a wind tunnel) and numerically (using large-eddy simulations). The first case will be a flow in an urban canopy. The second case will define the less turbulent flow, e.g., flow over a slightly rough surface. Advanced statistical methods will be used to analyze the dynamics of coherent structures, or new methods will be proposed. By confirming/refuting the hypothesis, the student will contribute to a better understanding of scalar transfer in the surface layer and turbulence itself.

Specific Requirements:

  • The candidate should have good experience in experimental fluid mechanics and/or computational fluid mechanics (CFD)

The position will be fulfilled within the projects and research activities implemented at the Thermomechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IT), Prague. Ph.D. of the candidates will be funded, partly from anticipated research projects and partly as a regular monthly scholarship with about 1000-1500 EUR/month total income (+ the scholarship is gradually increased during the study – for details, please see https://kfa.mff.cuni.cz/phd).

 
 

COVID-19 situation in CR
Though the enrolments for the Ph.D. studies should be done personally under normal conditions, Charles University allows a distance enrolment in case a candidate could not come before the official deadline due to an epidemic situation. Official information from the Ministry of Health can be found here https://koronavirus.mzcr.cz/en/.