PhD position in planetary science

PhD Project

The University of Bern invites applications for a fully funded PhD position to investigate how impacts and sublimation shape the surfaces of comets and other icy bodies using laboratory experiments and numerical modelling. The successful candidate will contribute to the interpretation of data returned by interplanetary missions to asteroids and comets, including Deep Impact/EPOXI, Rosetta, New Horizons, Lucy, and the upcoming Comet Interceptor mission.

Collisions and sublimation are the main processes controlling the evolution of icy bodies in the outer Solar System, such as comets, Centaurs, and Jupiter Trojans. Although both processes have been studied in detail, they have mostly been considered separately. As a result, we still do not know how impact craters evolve as a surface gradually changes through sublimation. This limits our ability to estimate surface ages and reconstruct the geological evolution of these bodies from spacecraft observations.

The aim of this project is to understand how sublimation changes the surface morphology of icy bodies, with a particular focus on impact craters. The work will combine laboratory experiments on crater sublimation with numerical modelling of landscape evolution over billion-year timescales. Depending on the successful candidate's background and interests, the project can focus more strongly on laboratory experiments or on numerical modelling.

The project will help understand observations from missions such as Rosetta, Lucy, and Comet Interceptor. The PhD candidate will join the Division of Space Research and Planetary Sciences at the University of Bern and become part of a collaborative, interdisciplinary research team working on the evolution of asteroids and comets.

• Master's degree in (astro-)physics, astronomy, planetary science, or a related field
• Strong background in numerical modeling and computational methods or laboratory experimentation
• Programming skills (e.g., Python, Julia, C/C++, or similar)
• Interest in planetary science, astronomy and small-body research
• Ability to work collaboratively in an international team
• Fluency in written and spoken English

• A fully funded PhD position at the University of Bern (with salary following the guidelines of the University of Bern)
• Access to state-of-the-art computational and laboratory resources
• A collaborative and international research environment
• Opportunities for conference participation and scientific networking

• Strong research infrastructure and international network
• Collaborative environment and ambitious team
• University sports
• Central location in the heart of Bern