Dr Steven Phipps, Dr Jason Roberts
Applications accepted all year round
Competition Funded PhD Project (Students Worldwide)
About the Project
The response of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) is one of the key uncertainties in projections of future global sea level rise. Changes in the volume of the AIS are driven, in part, by changes in air temperature, ocean temperature and precipitation. An understanding of the drivers of the Antarctic climate is therefore critical if we are to be able to generate reliable projections of future changes in global sea level. Thanks to the availability of high-resolution palaeoclimate proxy data, the past 2,000 years provides us with a valuable opportunity to improve our understanding of climatic drivers.
This project will combine novel climate modelling approaches with proxy data from natural archives in order to reconstruct and understand changes in the climate of Antarctica over the past 2,000 years. A global climate model will be used to simulate the response to natural and anthropogenic forcings, include greenhouse gases, the sun and volcanoes. Simple proxy system models will be developed, alleviating potential problems with the interpretation of proxy records by allowing for a direct comparison between the climate model simulations and palaeoclimate proxy records. Through data assimilation and the application of techniques for detection and attribution, it will then be possible to reconstruct changes in the climate of Antarctica over the past 2,000 years and to identify the drivers that are responsible.
Funding Notes
The ARC Antarctic Gateway Partnership is seeking applications from suitably qualified graduates for living allowance Scholarships to undertake PhD projects.
The UTAS Graduate Research Office provides detailed information about scholarships including eligibility, award conditions and application processes.
To be considered for an ARC Antarctic Gateway Partnership living allowance Scholarship it is necessary to specify this on the Admissions and Scholarship Application Part 9.1.
Tuition fees apply to all international candidates. Limited numbers of UTAS tuition fee scholarships are also available on a competitive basis to candidates undertaking projects closely aligned with the ARC Antarctic Gateway Partnership's research objectives.