Open Positions
Please visit this page regularly to check for open positions. If no positions are available in your field of interest, nevertheless feel free to contact the relevant group leave to inquire about future possibilities.
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PhD student in "Observation & model representation of past and current firn changes"
The University of Fribourg is located in central western Switzerland, at the foothills of the Swiss Alps. The university has about 10’000 students across all scientific disciplines. Being part of the Faculty of Science and Medicine, the Department of Geosciences comprises approximately 90 employees and offers various BSc and MSc programs in Earth sciences, in geosciences and geography.
The Cryosphere group within the Department of Geosciences has a staff of c. 25 and has strong expertise in surface and subsurface processes of glaciers and ice sheets, permafrost and geophysics. The Cryosphere group is looking for a
PhD student in "Observation & model representation of past and current firn changes"
This 4-year PhD position is part of the deFIRN project and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The project is a collaboration between University of Fribourg (Martina Barandun and Horst Machguth), the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF (Ruzica Dadic), and ETH Zurich (Evan Miles). The core team consists of the 4 PIs, 4 PhD students, and 4 Postdocs and aims to quantify the impact of disappearing firn on mountain glaciers. The project also features a broad network of partners in Europe and Central Asia.
The aim of this PhD position is to measure the changes in firn on glaciers in Switzerland and Central Asia, with particular focus on repeating historical measurements and quantifying how the firn has changed since then. Special focus will be on firn temperature, firn density and stratigraphy. The PhD student will use existing and new measurements to improve existing firn parameterizations and develop new algorithms to simulate the key processes governing the ongoing firn changes. The position is based at the Department of Geosciences of the University of Fribourg and will be supervised by H. Machguth and co-supervised by R. Dadic and W. van Pelt (University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden).
This may be the perfect position for you if you have a master’s degree in environmental science, geoscience, engineering, physics, or a related field, you are interested in the cryosphere, you have experience in computational data analysis or modelling, and if you are eager to work on mountain glaciers in the Alps and in Central Asia. Very good verbal and written communication skills in English are required, French or German is an asset.
If you are interested, please send your application (merged into one PDF file), including (1) motivation letter, (2) CV (including list of publication, if applicable) with contact details of at least two references, and (3) educational transcripts directly to Horst Machguth by Mail . The evaluation of applications will start 11 February and will continue until the position is filled.
The optimal starting date for the PhD candidate is April 2026, but there is some flexibility. Please contact Horst Machguth by Mail if you have questions. University of Fribourg is committed to diversity and inclusion. We actively promote equality and foster an open, inclusive work environment.
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Postdoc in "Improving understanding & model representation of firn hydrology"
The University of Fribourg is located in central western Switzerland, at the foothills of the Swiss Alps. The university has about 10’000 students across all scientific disciplines. Being part of the Faculty of Science and Medicine, the Department of Geosciences comprises approximately 90 employees and offers various BSc and MSc programs in Earth sciences, in geosciences and geography.
The Cryosphere group within the Department of Geosciences has a staff of c. 25 and has strong expertise in surface and subsurface processes of glaciers and ice sheets, permafrost and geophysics. The Cryosphere group is looking for a
Postdoc in "Improving understanding & model representation of firn hydrology"
This 3-year postdoc position is part of the deFIRN project and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The project is a collaboration between University of Fribourg (Martina Barandun and Horst Machguth), the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF (Ruzica Dadic), and the ETH Zurich (Evan Miles). The core team consists of the 4 PIs, 4 PhD students, and 4 Postdocs and aims to quantify the impact of disappearing firn on mountain glaciers. The project also features a broad network of partners in Europe and Central Asia.
The aim of this postdoc position is to measure the changes in firn on glaciers in Switzerland and Central Asia, with particular focus on firn hydrology and firn densification. The postdoc will work closely with a PhD student and use the measurements to improve selected existing parameterizations of firn densification and hydrology. The position is based at the Department of Geosciences at the University of Fribourg and will be supervised by H. Machguth.
This may be the perfect position for you if you have a PhD degree in environmental science, geoscience, engineering, physics, or a related field, you are interested in the cryosphere, you have experience in computational data analysis and modelling, and if you are eager to work on mountain glaciers in the Alps and in Central Asia. Very good verbal and written communication skills in English are required, knowledge in French or German is an asset.
If you are interested, please send your application (merged into one PDF file), including (1) motivation letter, (2) CV with complete list of publication, (3) contact details of at least three references and (4) copy of your PhD diploma directly to Horst Machguth by Mail . The evaluation of applications will start 11 February and will continue until the position is filled.
The optimal starting date for the postdoc candidate is April 2026, but there is some flexibility. Please contact Horst Machguth by Mail for further inquiries. The University of Fribourg is committed to diversity and inclusion as core values. We actively promote equality and foster an open, inclusive work environment.
Download Open Position -
Postdoc in "efficient firn and glacier modelling at regional scales"
The University of Fribourg is located in central western Switzerland, at the foothills of the Swiss Alps. The university has about 10’000 students across all scientific disciplines. Being part of the Faculty of Science and Medicine, the Department of Geosciences comprises approximately 90 employees and offers various BSc and MSc programs in Earth sciences, in geosciences and geography.
The Cryosphere group within the Department of Geosciences has a staff of c. 25 and has strong expertise in surface and subsurface processes of glaciers and ice sheets, permafrost and geophysics. The Cryosphere group is looking for a
Postdoc in "efficient firn and glacier modelling at regional scales"
This 2-year postdoc position (potentially to be extended to three years including fieldwork in Central Asia) is part of the deFIRN project and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The project is a collaboration between University of Fribourg (Martina Barandun and Horst Machguth), the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF (Ruzica Dadic), and ETH Zurich (Evan Miles). The core team consists of the 4 PIs, 4 PhD students, and 4 Postdocs and aims to quantify the impact of disappearing firn on mountain glaciers. The project also features a broad network of partners in Europe and Central Asia.
The aim of this postdoc position is to implement changes to an existing surface mass balance model, openAMUNDSEN. The postdoc will update the model with physical parameterizations of firn and albedo processes and will couple the model to an existing machine-learning algorithm to develop a computationally efficient workflow to scale and transfer relevant processes from the glacier to the regional scale. The position is based at the Department of Geosciences of the University of Fribourg and will be supervised by Martina Barandun.
This may be the perfect position for you if you have a PhD degree in environmental science, geoscience, engineering, physics, or scientific computing, you are interested in the cryosphere, and if you have ample experience in computational data analysis and modelling. Very good verbal and written communication skills in English are required, knowledge in French or German is an asset.
If you are interested, please send your application (merged into one PDF file), including (1) motivation letter, (2) CV with complete list of publication, (3) contact details of three references and (4) copy of your PhD diploma directly to Martina Barandun by Mail . The evaluation of applications will start 11 February and will continue until the position is filled. The optimal starting date for the postdoc candidate is April 2026. Please contact Martina Barandun by Mail for further inquiries. University of Fribourg is committed to diversity and inclusion as core values. We actively promote equality and foster an open, inclusive work environment.