PhD Researcher Marine Geology

We offer a 4-year PhD student position to test the hypothesis that proglacial lakes were important landscape features in the southern North Sea during the Quaternary, with a special focus on the Weichselian glacial period. You will use advanced marine geological/geophysical research techniques, such as multibeam bathymetric mapping, sub-bottom and high-resolution reflection seismic profiling, and sediment (vibro)coring followed by a multi-proxy core analysis, involving core scanning (CT, MSCL, XRF), geochemistry, mineralogy, fabric analysis, microfossil analysis, geochronology, ... The aim is to refine the complex Quaternary stratigraphy of the North Sea Basin and identify the presence of glaciolacustrine deposits, map their extent and define their stratigraphic and geomorphological context.

As a PhD researcher, you will be based at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ, Ostend) and enrolled at Ghent University (Department of Geology). The PhD supervisors will be Dr. Ruth Plets and Dr. Tine Missiaen (VLIZ) and Prof. Marc De Batist at Ghent University (UGent).

You will work in tandem with a second PhD student researcher, who will be hired by Ghent University. This second PhD project will largely work with the same data, but with a focus on studying the Elsterian and Saalian glacial period (see vacancy on: https://www.ugent.be/nl/vacatures/oap ). Both positions are funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) in the framework of a special programme to stimulate innovative scientific research using Belgium’s new RV Belgica II. We urge applicants to consider applying for both positions