Do you want to contribute to a unique project investigating high-altitude snow and rainfall in Asia’s mountain ranges? Then this PhD position might be for you!

Your job

Mountains are the water towers of the world. They receive a disproportionately large amount of precipitation due to orographic lifting. The most important water towers are Asia’s mountain ranges, particularly the Himalaya, the Karakoram and the Pamir. These mountains contain the largest ice reserves beyond the polar regions and are therefore often collectively referred to as the Third Pole.

Here, mountain precipitation feeds glaciers and snowpacks, generating river flow that supplies major reservoirs and sustains millions of people downstream. Extreme mountain precipitation can also trigger floods, landslides, debris flows, and avalanches. Understanding the drivers and magnitude of mountain precipitation is essential for quantifying the mountain water cycle.

In the ERC Advanced project DROP, you will be part of a team investigating how mountains, land-surface feedback, and large-scale atmospheric circulation influence the distribution of mountain precipitation on the Third Pole.

In this PhD project, you will focus on high-altitude snow and rainfall patterns in two climatically contrasting catchments: one in the Himalayas and one in the Pamir mountain range. Using ice cores, snow observations, and a dense network of rain gauges, you will adopt a data-driven approach to understand spatial and temporal variations in precipitation. Your tasks will include organizing high-altitude research expeditions, conducting fieldwork in challenging conditions, and analyzing ice core and field-based data. Collaboration with another PhD candidate and a postdoc in the project will be crucial.

To support your academic and personal development, you will also follow courses and assist in teaching Earth Sciences at the Bachelor's and Master's levels. These activities will constitute twenty percent of your contracted time.

Your qualities

This project may be the right fit for you if you have:

• an MSc in meteorology, hydrology, civil engineering, geosciences, environmental science, or a related field;
• a passion for mountains and extreme environments, with the ability and willingness to conduct fieldwork in challenging conditions;
• strong quantitative skills, including knowledge of (spatial) data analysis and atmospheric and/or hydrological modelling;
• experience with programming languages (Python/R), preferably using spatial datasets;
• basic theoretical understanding of mountain meteorology;
• interest in interdisciplinary collaborations and motivation to work closely with a team;
• excellent English oral and scientific writing skills, and a willingness to learn Dutch.