PhD in Environmental/Organic Chemistry - ETH Zurich

Environmental Chemistry / Organic Chemistry

ETH Zurich - Department of Environmental Sciences

Applications are invited for one PhD position in the Environmental Chemistry Group of Prof. Kristopher McNeill at ETH Zurich. The research is focused on the development and implementation of chemical probes for reactive oxygen species.  The ultimate goal of the research is to determine the mechanisms involved in photochemical virus inactivation, relevant to natural and engineered water purification. This project will bring together chemical synthesis, photochemistry, spectroscopy, and novel analytical techniques, and is a collaborative effort with the group of Prof. Tamar Kohn at EPFL.  This project is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

The ideal candidate will have experience in synthetic organic chemistry and a strong interest in environmental organic chemistry.  Good knowledge of English (spoken and written) is essential. Applicants should hold a MSc degree (or equivalent) in environmental sciences, chemistry, or a related discipline. Employment will be according to standard regulations at ETH (funding secured for 3 years). The project will start in February 2010 or later upon mutual agreement.

Applicants should submit a letter of application, CV, statement of research interests, copy of certificates, addresses of 2-3 potential referees, a 2-3 page summary of the applicant's master thesis (if already completed) to Prof. Kristopher McNeill (kristopher.mcneill@env.ethz.ch) by email as single pdf file. For further details on the project please contact Prof. McNeill.  For further general information about the McNeill research group, please visit the group's homepage (http://www.ibp.ethz.ch/research/). Evaluation of applicants will start 10 January, 2010 and continue until the positions are filled.

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PhD Position on Weather Insurance Design project

The Agri-food & Agri-environmental Economics Group of ETH Zurich(www.afee.ethz.ch) invites applications for a Ph.D position.

The successful candidate will implement a research project on the weather insurancedesign. The project will be financed by SwissNational Science Foundation and an ETHZurich internal PhD-grant. The
objective of the project is to enhance the methodology of the weather insurance contract design considering conditions of limited relevance and applicability of historical data. The project will focus on the
application of extremal dependence analysis and elaboration of the methodology for the utilization of a priori information available in the form of climate change projections. The project will be conducted based on historical data, climate change projections and results of crop simulation models for Kazakhstan where grain producers are especially prone to risk of drought.

The basic requirements are:
• A master degree in Mathematics, Economics, Agricultural Economics;
• Strong background in Probability Theory and quantitative methods;
• Programming skills;
• Good command of spoken and written English;As the project will be implemented in collaboration with the scientists from Russia and Kazakhstan, knowledge of Russian would be an asset but is not a prerequisite.

Please send your application including CV, two letters of recommendation and (if possible) a copy of the Master thesis by January 15, 2010 to Dr. Raushan Bokusheva at the following postal address:
ETH Zurich
Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED)
Agri-Food and Agri-Environmental Economics Group
SOL C9 Sonneggstr. 33 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
website link:
http://www.afee.ethz.ch/positions/ETH_PhD-Position_Weather-Insurance_Design
The earliest starting date of this position would be February 1, 2010.

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PhD Position in Journalism at Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland

Position call for PhD candidate in Journalism and collaborator for the Media and Communication Service
Requirements:
– Master degree in Journalism or Communication
– Expertise in journalistic writing and editing
– Know-how in the use of new technologies and web publishing
– Languages:
– English mother tongue
– Very good understanding of Italian
Duties:
The selected candidate will be required to:
– Work 50% for the Media and Communication Service of the Università della Svizzera italiana
– Collaborate in research activities of the European Journalism Observatory (www.ejo.ch)
Research topic:
The PhD research will focus on journalism: the topic will be defined in detail together with prof. Stephan Russ-Mohl, director of the PhD thesis.
Job description at the Media and Communication Service:
– Writing and editing of English texts: press releases, newsletter, web
– Internal and external communication
– Cooperation in the organization of events
– Creation and management of mailing lists
– Management of online resources
The usual contractual conditions for PhD students of the Università della Svizzera italiana will apply.
Please send your Application Letter and CV to press@usi.ch.
Deadline: December 11th, 2009

 

website link:
http://www.usi.ch/call-phd-position-journalism-103150.pdf

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PhD Position in Geography, University of Zurich, Switzerland

PhD studentship
Glaciology, Geomorphodynamics and Geochronology
Department of Geography
University of Zurich, Switzerland
We are seeking a PhD candidate for the project CRYOSUB: Mountain
Cryosphere Subgrid Parameterization and Computation, starting 1 March
or 1 April 2009.
The expected outcome of this project is a method that allows for
continental-scale modeling of permafrost, snow and glacier mass
balance in mountain areas under present and simulated future climate.
This is important because the mountain cryosphere influences a large
proportion of the global land mass and population, experiences high
rates of climate change and is currently inadequately resolved in
regional climate models due to the dominating influence of sub-grid
variability. This project will provide a proof of concept for the
inclusion of topography sub-grid schemes into climate models as well
as applications of mountain cryosphere models over large mountain ranges.
Applicants are required to have successfully completed a Masters level
degree in a relevant area, e.g., Climatology, Meteorology, Computer
Science, Mathematics, Physics, Computational Geography or Earth
Sciences. Programming skills (low level such as C/FORTRAN and high
level such as Matlab/IDL) and experience with GIS are important
assets. You have a very good standard of written and spoken English
and will be working in a heterogeneous and multi-disciplinary
environment. Mountaineering skills are welcome. You will receive the
standard PhD salary according to the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Curriculum Vitae, transcripts and contact details (including e-mail
addresses and phone numbers) for two references should be sent with
your letter of application to:
Dr. Stephan Gruber
Department of Geography
University of Zurich-Irchel
Winterthurerstrasse 190
8057 Zurich, Switzerland
stephan.gruber@geo.uzh.ch
Reviews of applications will commence on 1 February 2009.

More Information and download

http://www.geo.uzh.ch/~stgruber/PhD_CRYOSUB_UZH.pdf

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