Research Fellow in Physical Geography and Environmental Science

Northumbria University in Newcastle is inviting applications for a Research Fellow position in ice-ocean interactions in Antarctica. This position starts in early 2026 and is fully funded for 2.5 years (30 months) and embedded into the "Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP7 (ISMIP7)" initiative that aims to provide sea level projections from ice sheets to the next IPCC report (for more information on ISMIP7, please see ismip.org). Candidates will undertake research in the field of climate change, with a focus on the future ocean-driven melting of the Antarctic ice sheet. The position is funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation that provides funding for ISMIP7 Core Activities.

We invite candidates with interests and experience in the fields of physical and computational oceanography, numerical glaciology, mathematics, physics, or related disciplines. Working as part of multi-disciplinary team, the successful candidate will support the research activities of the Antarctic ice-ocean focus group of ISMIP7. The aim of the group is to develop a protocol and provide the boundary conditions for ocean-driven melting needed by ice-sheet modelers to simulate the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet, and to provide an understanding of the influence of choices made on the resulting projections. This project encompasses developing, conducting and summarising the Melt parameterisation Model Intercomparison Project (MeltMIP). MeltMIP, analogously to initMIP for model initialisation (Seroussi et al., 2019), tests the influence of melt parameterisation choices and parameter values on projections, through idealised experiments. Better understanding the ice-ocean interactions could help to reduce the large uncertainties around future Antarctic ice loss. The successful candidate is also encouraged to develop their own research across a broad range of topics, depending on specialty and interests.

For further information, please see the role description.

The successful candidate will be part of the project “Projected sea level rise from ice sheets: the Ice Sheet Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP7 (ISMIP7)”, funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation. They will work closely with the Antarctic ice-ocean focus group co-led by Ronja Reese (PI of the project at Northumbria) and Nicolas Jourdain from the Université Grenoble Alpes, France. The research will be conducted in collaboration with the entire focus group which meets on a monthly basis and the wider ISMIP7 project.

The successful candidate will also be encouraged to collaborate with researchers at Northumbria, specifically, members of the NERC-funded project “Rethining Antarctic Sea-level Projections”, the “Cold Environments” research group, the “Future of Ice on Earth” Peak of Excellence at Northumbria, the “Centre for Polar Observations and Modelling” at Northumbria, and further members of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences.

Applicants should hold a PhD in a relevant discipline (Climate Physics, Physical Geography, Physical Oceanography, Glaciology or similar) and have demonstrable specialist expert knowledge in ice-ocean interactions in Antarctica, numerical modelling of ice sheets or polar oceans, sub-shelf melt parameterisations, and/or analysis of large datasets.

The post will commence in the beginning of 2026, with 1st of January being the target start date -- flexibility is possible to support our interest in a diverse and inclusive research environment.

If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Ronja Reese (ronja.reese@northumbria.ac.uk).

To apply for this vacancy please click 'Apply Now'. Your application should include a covering letter and a CV. 

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