PhD in “Theoretical Seismology” at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, Norway
The position:
The Department of Geosciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, Norway, is offering a PhD position in Theoretical Seismology. The position is for a duration of four years, which includes the nominal three years for completing the PhD program and an embedded additional year for teaching and other duties. The objective of the position is to provide research training up to the doctoral level. Admission to the PhD program is a prerequisite for employment, and the program period starts on commencement of the position.
This PhD position is part of an ongoing research and teaching collaboration between UiT and NORSAR at Kjeller, Norway. The research aims to develop innovative representations of spatiotemporal random fields and propose new methods for analyzing and interpreting seismological array data.
The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø, but with regular research visits to NORSAR. The successful candidate must be available to start the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.
About the research project:
The objective of this PhD position is to establish a novel theoretical framework for extracting near-surface geophysical information from passive recordings of ambient seismic noise. Ambient seismic noise refers to the continuous vibration of the Earth caused by natural sources and human activities. A standard assumption is that the seismic noise wavefield is generated by uniformly distributed random sources, and hence, that the transfer function (Green’s function) can be estimated by cross-correlating pairs of seismic sensors over extended time periods.
This project aims to challenge the standard assumptions of homogeneity and stationarity by invoking the class of harmonizable spatiotemporal random fields to represent wavefields and/or random media. Harmonizable processes can be expressed as Fourier-Stieltjes integrals, and it follows that their first and second order moment functions lend themselves to a very useful formulation of nonstationarity originally formulated by Michel Loève and Harald Cramér in the 1930’s and 40’s. This approach enables the modeling of spatial inhomogeneities and/or temporal nonstationarities, and it provides consistent statistical formulations of moments of the stochastic wavefields in time, frequency, space, and wavenumber, as well as their combinations. The PhD student shall be involved in formulating the necessary theoretical framework, developing and implementing practical estimators, and testing the methodology on real world data.
The proposed methodology will be evaluated and demonstrated by analyzing a range of pertinent ground motion data. This will include data from seismic arrays, optical fibers (Distributed Acoustic Sensing – DAS and Distributed Temperature Sensing – DTS), and ocean bottom sensors. The primary objective will be to provide high-precision estimates of relative velocity variations (dv/v) in the subsurface, with potential applications to processes in the cryosphere (e.g., glacier and permafrost dynamics), subsurface hydrology, and geohazards.
Contact:
- Prof. Alfred Hanssen (UiT; alfred.hanssen@uit.no)
- Adj. Assoc. Prof. Andreas Köhler (NORSAR/UiT; andreas.kohler@norsar.no)
Qualifications:
- MSc or equivalent in seismology, geophysics, physics, applied mathematics, statistics, or statistical signal processing
- Solid quantitative and theoretical skills, and experience with mathematical modelling
- Experience with scientific computing and programming (Python/Matlab/C/C++)
- Experience with statistical data analysis
- Good written and oral communication skills in English
Qualification with a master’s degree is required before commencement in the position. If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must document completion of your degree before commencement in the position. You must still submit your transcripts for the master’s degree with your application.
The research results will be presented at national and international conferences/workshops, as well as published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. The candidate must therefore document good command of English, both written and oral. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.
You must be willing to engage in the ongoing development of your discipline and the university as a whole. During this assessment process, emphasis will be put on your potential for research as shown by the Master’s thesis, the cover letter, and any other academic works. In addition, they may consider work experience, teaching qualifications or other activities of significance for the PhD studies.
They will also emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. The successful candidate has:
- Good collaboration skills
- Good communication and interaction with colleagues
- A desire to contribute towards a good working environment
As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, they will not appoint you to this position.
Admission to the PhD program:
For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD program at the Faculty of Science and Technology and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.
Admission normally requires:
- A bachelor’s degree of 180 ECTS and a master’s degree, or an integrated master’s degree.
UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
In order to gain admission to the programme, the applicant must have a grade point average of C or better for the master’s degree and for relevant subjects of the bachelor’s degree. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.
If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after taking up the position.
Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from NOKUT. Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor’s degree and a 2-year master’s degree.
If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after taking up the position.
Inclusion and diversity:
UiT The Arctic University of Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. They believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength, and they want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.
If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, they encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, they invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, they will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, they will only use the information for anonymous statistics.
Offer:
- Involvement in an interesting research project
- Good career opportunities
- A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
- Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
- Pension scheme through the state pension fund
- PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 532 200 NOK/year with a 3% yearly increase
Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.
More practical information about working and living in Norway can be found here.
Application:
Your application must include:
- Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
- CV (maximum 2 pages)
- Diploma for bachelor’s and master’s degree
- Transcript of grades/academic record for bachelor’s and master’s degree
- Explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
- Documentation of English proficiency
- 1-3 references with contact information
- Master’s thesis, and any other academic works
All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. Diplomas and transcripts must also be submitted in the original language, if not in English or Scandinavian. If English proficiency is not documented in the application, it must be documented before starting in the position. They only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline.
All applications will be assessed via an assessment committee, based on the documents that must included in the application. As soon as the evaluation report is ready you will receive a copy, approximately one month after the closing deadline for the post. All applicants will be notified as to whether they have been shortlisted, and the reasons for this decision. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview, which will take place shortly after communication of the decision. The final decision on these shortlisted candidates will be communicated up to one month after interview, unless the panel communicates that an earlier/later decision is likely. They will inform all applicants about the appointment.
Deadline: 28 March 2024
