Description of the workplace

The position is based at the Division of Combustion Physics at the Department of Physics, Lund University, within the stratospheric aerosol research group led by Associate Professor Johan Friberg. The division hosts research groups working across a broad range of topics in applied physics and optical diagnostics, including laser-based measurement techniques, combustion, and atmospheric science. This environment provides a stimulating and technically diverse workplace where expertise in optics and light-matter interaction is central — a natural home for research based on satellite lidar, which is fundamentally an application of laser remote sensing.

The PhD student will become part of an active research environment that includes postdoctoral researchers and senior scientists with expertise spanning satellite remote sensing, atmospheric physics, and climate modeling. The group is embedded in the strategic research environment MERGE (Modelling the Regional and Global Earth system) and the LTH Profile Area Aerosols, providing access to a wide network of researchers across Lund University.

The project involves collaboration with leading international research groups and institutions offering the PhD student opportunities to engage with the global stratospheric aerosol research community from early in their studies.

Being a doctoral student

As a doctoral student, you are both admitted as a student and employed at Lund University.

As a doctoral student, you will be trained in a scientific approach. In short, you will be trained to think critically and analytically, to solve problems independently using the right methods, and to develop an awareness of research ethics. In addition, you will have the opportunity to work on projects, to develop your leadership and pedagogical skills. Throughout your studies, you will be guided by supervisors. Doctoral studies end with a thesis and a doctoral degree.

More about being a doctoral student at LTH on lth.se. 

Subject and project description

PhD project: How much cooling are we missing? Using space lasers to improve climate projections

Every major volcanic eruption and large-scale wildfire is a natural experiment in climate intervention — injecting vast quantities of particles into the stratosphere that shade the planet and temporarily cool the climate. This PhD project is focused on the stratosphere, and specifically on understanding how volcanic eruptions and wildfires load it with aerosol and what this means for climate. Accurately quantifying these effects is essential for reliable climate projections — yet there is still significant potential to better exploit the unique perspective offered by satellite lidar within the multi-instrument stratospheric aerosol climatologies that feed international climate model comparisons.

Satellite lidars like CALIOP — essentially a laser fired from orbit — offer a fundamentally different and complementary view of stratospheric aerosol compared to other satellite techniques. This project will harness a unique 17-year record from CALIOP to critically evaluate and improve how lidar observations of stratospheric aerosol are currently incorporated into multi-instrument climatologies, and to produce refined lidar-based estimates of the stratospheric aerosol burden and its climate forcing for use in the next generation of international climate model comparisons (CMIP). The goal is to produce a richer, more complete picture of how volcanic eruptions and wildfires load the stratosphere with aerosol and cool the climate.

Beyond this core deliverable, the project opens into broader scientific exploration of the stratosphere. The group's research spans multiple aspects of stratospheric composition and its climate relevance, including trace gas measurements that complement the aerosol record and the development of new data products from ATLID — the lidar instrument on ESA's newly launched EarthCARE satellite, which brings a new generation of spaceborne laser remote sensing which applies a new generation of spaceborne laser remote sensing to stratospheric research. There will be opportunities to contribute to and benefit from these and more parallel research threads within our group.

The project sits at the intersection of satellite remote sensing and climate science, and you will work in a team spanning both worlds — satellite data analysts and climate modelers — as part of a broader research effort at Lund University. If you want your PhD to leave a measurable mark on how the scientific community quantifies one of the most important natural climate forcings on Earth, this is the project.

Work duties

You will primarily devote yourself to your doctoral programme, which includes participation in research projects as well as third cycle courses, seminars and conferences.

The work duties include:

• You will have specific responsibility for analyzing high-resolution satellite lidar data to quantify how well current climate model datasets capture the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions and large wildfires.
• You will present your results at international scientific conferences and participate in the graduate research school ClimBEco (www.cec.lu.se/climbeco-graduate-research-school).
• The position includes travel to international conferences. The duties also include participation in teaching and other departmental work up to a maximum of 20% of working hours.

Qualifications

To be eligible for admission and employment as a doctoral student, you must fulfil the requirements below.

Admission requirements

A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if the applicant:

• has been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

A person meets the specific admission requirements for third cycle studies in physics if the applicant has:

• At least 30 second-cycle credits of relevance to the subject, of which at least 15 credits shall comprise a second-cycle degree project, or
• An MSc in engineering physics or an associated field, or a Master’s degree in physics or associated field.

Finally, the student must be judged to have the potential to complete the programme.

Additional requirements

In order to complete the doctoral programme in question, the following are also required:

• Knowledge of programming (e.g. Python, Matlab, or similar) at a level sufficient to handle and analyze large datasets
• Knowledge of physics, meteorology, atmospheric science, or a closely related field at Master's levelgood ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems.
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Good ability to cooperate
• Very good knowledge of English, spoken and written
• Be initiative-taking, structured, persistent, and with good numerical ability

Other qualifications

For the doctoral programme in question, the following are considered as other qualifications:

• Experience working with satellite data or remote sensing is an advantage
• Experience working in Linux-based environments is an advantage
• Experience with large dataset handling and scientific visualization is an advantage
• Familiarity with stratospheric aerosol, lidar remote sensing, climate modeling, trajectory modelling or dispersion modelling is an advantage
• Curiosity-driven, creative, and with a strong interest in combining data analysis with real-world climate relevance

We offer

Lund University is a public authority which means that employees get particular benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension scheme.

More about working at Lund University on lu.se. 

About the employment

The employment is a fixed-term employment at full time, starting fall 2026 (as agreed). Third cycle studies at LTH consist of full-time studies for 4 years. In the case of teaching and other departmental duties, the employment is extended accordingly. Doctoral studentships are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), chapter 5, 1-7 §§.

More about terms of employment for doctoral students on Lund University’s Staffpages. 

Other

Initial interviews will be held via zoom in the first few weeks after submission deadline, followed by on-site interviews at our department.

How to apply

Applications shall be written in English and include:

• CV and a cover letter stating the reasons why you are interested in the doctoral programme/employment and in what way the research project corresponds to your interests and educational background.
• Copies of issued study certificates and/or awarded degree certificates. These must confirm that you meet the general and specific admission requirements for the doctoral programme and show that you have the subject knowledge required for the doctoral programme project.
• Other documents you wish to be considered (grade transcripts, contact information for your references, letters of recommendation, etc.)

We welcome your application.