PhD Position in Oceanography

Gothenburg University meets societal challenges with versatile knowledge. 56,000 students and 6,600 employees make the university a large and inspiring workplace. Strong research and attractive education attract researchers and students from all over the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, Gothenburg University contributes to a better future.

The Department of Marine Sciences (https://www.gu.se/marina-vetenskaper (https://www.gu.se/marina-vetenskaper)) at Gothenburg University has the most complete environment for marine science and marine education in Sweden. Only a few similar organizations exist in Europe. With access to unique infrastructure and a broad scientific competence area that has a clear connection to societal needs and challenges, the Department's activities contribute to new solutions to the global challenges concerning the ocean.

The Department of Marine Sciences conducts research, education, and collaboration related to the ocean and its resources. The activities are conducted in Gothenburg, at the research stations Kristineberg Center for Marine Research and Innovation, Tjärnö Marine Laboratory, and on the research vessel Skagerak. The department has an interdisciplinary breadth that encompasses subjects such as marine biology, marine chemistry, marine geology, marine cultural heritage, and oceanography, with research areas spanning geographically from coast to open ocean. Our researchers and students often play prominent roles in international expeditions in Antarctica, the Arctic, and the major oceans, but also work in the Swedish coastal zone and in our newly built laboratories with advanced equipment and complex analytical methods. The department also has a broad educational palette with a bachelor's program, three master's programs, and a doctoral education in the marine field.

University-wide information about what it means to be a PhD student at Gothenburg University can be found on the university's PhD pages: https://www.gu.se/utbildning-till-att-bli-forskare (https://www.gu.se/utbildning-till-att-bli-forskare)

Description of the Subject Area

Understanding the presence of trace oxygen filaments in Oxygen Minimum Zones using autonomous underwater robots and new sensors.

This PhD position exists at the boundary between physical and biogeochemical oceanography and is part of the ERC Synergy project RECLESS (Recycling versus loss in the marine nitrogen cycle: controls, feedbacks, and the impact of expanding low oxygen regions). RECLESS aims to predict how ongoing oxygen deficiency in the oceans affects microbial nitrogen transformations and thus the future availability of nitrogen to support oceanic primary production and carbon sequestration. The project involves researchers from the universities of Gothenburg, Vienna, and Southern Denmark, as well as Carnegie Science, and synergistically integrates innovative oceanographic, biogeochemical, ecophysiological, and model-based investigations.

High-sensitivity oxygen sensors have shown that the oxygen in the core of so-called Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZ) is depleted below a detection limit of ~10 nM, suggesting that these waters are functionally anoxic. However, oxygen can still affect the nitrogen cycle in these waters in unexpected ways, fundamentally challenging our understanding of how the balance between nitrogen recycling and loss is controlled. Oxygen can temporarily penetrate through physical phenomena such as eddies and filaments on scales of hundreds of meters to kilometers, which are on scales that satellite and global models have yet to detect, and their transient properties make them difficult to capture with point observations. Therefore, both the frequency and extent of such oxygen intrusion remain unknown.

This PhD position will quantify oxygen ventilation in OMZs with high spatial and temporal resolution using a new ultra-sensitive oxygen sensor on underwater robots during research expeditions spanning multiple OMZs. This will provide us with a unique position to reveal the effect, frequency, and extent of oxygen intrusion in OMZs.

The PhD candidate will be based in the FLOW Lab and Bristow Lab and will work with other students and researchers in these groups, as well as with other institutions involved in the RECLESS project. The Department of Marine Sciences at Gothenburg University also has a large and thriving PhD community, where Gothenburg and its surroundings, along with the benefits of this position, offer an excellent quality of life.

The PhD candidate's supervisory team will consist of Dr. Bastien Queste and Dr. Laura Bristow.

Application

You apply for admission to the doctoral program via Gothenburg University's recruitment portal. Apply and read more by visiting Job Openings | Gothenburg University (https://www.gu.se/lediga-anstallningar)

The application must be submitted by: 2025-05-23

The university actively works for a work environment with equal conditions and values the qualities that diversity brings to the organization.

The university applies individual salary setting.

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