PhD Studentship
BAS has funding for a studentship in the following topic in 2014
Understanding the global economic impact of Arctic marine change
Supervisors:
Jeremy Wilkinson, John King (Primary supervisor at BAS)
Peter Wadhams, Chris Hope (Main supervisors at University of Cambridge)
Project:
The Arctic system is in a state of accelerated change. It has been clearly shown that Arctic change impacts the local, regional and global climate through complex coupling mechanisms within the Earth system. It is predicted that commercial investment in the Arctic could reach $100bn or more in the coming decade. This ‘industrialisation of the Arctic’ seems to be driven by a combination of climate change and the ever-increasing demand and price of oil and minerals. The environmental, socio-economic, and geopolitical consequences of Arctic change will be considerable. There is however a significant level of uncertainty about the Arctic’s future, socially, environmentally and economically.
The EU have funded a €12M programme of research that aims to understand and quantify socio-economic impact of these changes on the Arctic marine environment. Our programme ICE-ARC (Ice, Climate, and Economics – Arctic Research on Change) will assess the climatic (sea ice, ocean, atmosphere and ecosystem), economic, and social impacts of these stresses on regional and global scales.
The successful candidate for our PhD Scholarship will work within an international, multidisciplinary team of scientists, to better calculate the economic cost of change in the Arctic marine environment. Objectives include:
- Modify the leading Integrated Assessment Model (IAM), PAGE09 (see UK Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, 2006), to include a better physical representation of key Arctic processes, the impact of the industrial sectors, and extreme weather events, including understanding how uncertainties can be reduced and quantified.
- Assess the social and economic impacts of changes to the Arctic marine environment, and identify key socio-economic vulnerabilities and opportunities, both globally and regionally.
- Value the impacts of Arctic-related climate change and the costs of policies to mitigate and adapt to the changing Arctic marine environment.
Taken as a whole, the project will help deliver an unprecedented economic perspective to Arctic change, and for the first time, estimate the effects of Arctic change on the global economy.
Qualifications: It is expected that you will possess a 2:1 or higher, although appropriate experience will also be taken into account. Candidates will be considered with good oral and written skills, and a strong background one or more of the following disciplines: economics, mathematics, policy, physics, statistics, or computer science. Knowledge of climate processes would be an advantage, as would fluency in a programming language.
Funding and arrangements: The successful candidate will be enrolled in the University of Cambridge, and must be willing to travel within Europe.
Funding for a three year period is available for a standard University of Cambridge PhD studentship. College fees at the University of Cambridge will be met by the British Antarctic Survey for UK/EC nationals. Applications from outside the EC are welcomed; however the difference in international College fees must be met by the candidate.
The studentship will be based at the British Antarctic Survey with close collaboration with University of Cambridge and the Erasmus University Rotterdam School of Management.
We welcome applications from all sections of the community. People from ethnic minorities are currently under-represented and their applications are particularly welcome.
Applications for this anticipated studentship should be addressed to Jeremy Wilkinson, include a covering letter, CV, and the e-mail addresses of two referees and sent to basstudentoffice@bas.ac.uk. Please quote reference number BASDTGICEARC
Closing date for applications is 22nd April 2014. Position to start as soon as possible.
For further details about the British Antarctic Survey please see: http://www.antarctica.ac.uk
For further details about the Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research please see: http://www.4cmr.group.cam.ac.uk/
