PhD Student position (f/m/d) in atmospheric science / aerosol research

together unique

Alkali feldspar is one of the major components of Earth's crust and as such, constitutes a significant fraction of the atmospheric mineral dust. Given that feldspar can efficiently serve as an ice nucleating particle (INP) facilitating freezing of water at low supercooling, its impact on the ice formation in the atmospheric clouds can hardly be overestimated. The ice nucleating (IN) property of feldspar has been previously ascribed to crystal structure similarities between ice and feldspar, but the systematic study of the mechanisms underlying ice nucleation on alkali feldspar is still incomplete. This project aims at revealing the mechanism of ice nucleation active sites formation in natural feldspars as they undergo chemical and physical transformation from magmatic rocks to an airborne aerosol particle.

Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research - Atmospheric Aerosol Research (IMK-AAF)

The successful doctoral candidate will be responsible for characterization of IN efficiency of feldspar specimen using state of the art experimental facilities available at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The pristine and weathered feldspars will be characterized in droplet freezing assay setup mounted in optical and environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Deposition freezing experiments will be conducted in the environmental chamber at the X-Ray synchrotron facility of the KIT IPS to obtain structural information of adsorbed water and mineral phase (see Figure). The experiments will be complemented by atomistic modelling performed by the collaboration group at the University of Vienna.

The Department of Atmospheric Aerosol Research of IMK seeks a highly motivated PhD student (f/m/d) interested in performing cutting-edge research in a close collaboration with two doctoral candidates based at the faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy and at the faculty of Physics at the University of Vienna (https: // www. imk-aaf.kit.edu/OpenPositions1761.php).

01.08.2023

Salary category 13, depending on the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements.

3 years

30.06.2023

For further information, please contact Dr. Alexei Kiselev, Tel: 0721/ 608-26662, E-Mail: [email protected]

Please apply online using the button below for this vacancy number 268/2023.

Ausschreibungsnummer: 268/2023

We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore we kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job. Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

Personnel Support is provided by: Personalservice (PSE) - Human Resources Mr Gehringer Phone: +49 721 608-25004,

Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany