Proposals for topics of the doctoral dissertation

The list of proposed topics for the academic year 2015/2016 [expand title=”more”]

Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia

1. Conditions and long-term variability of liquid and solid precipitation occurrence on Spitsbergen on the background of current climate change.
2. The water drainage in the polithermal glacial system based on radio-echo soundings and model solutions.
3. Functioning of the nival system in polar environment basing upon Svalbard as an example.
4. An attempt to determine the prevalence of the lower limit of permafrost occurrence in the medium and high mountains massifs in Central Europe and Spitsbergen using geophysical methods and climatological analysis.
5. Relationship of selected landforms of periglacial environment according to permafrost on the basis of geophysical surveys of selected sites in Hornsund area, Spitsbergen.
6. An attempt to determine glacier facies on Svalbard polythermal glaciers by means of remote sensing and field methods.
7. Energy balance and effective ablation of crevassed zones on the Spitsbergen glaciers.

Institute of Geophysics PAS

1. Stochastic models of geometry and dynamics of fracture networks of polar ice.
2. Modelling of polar phenomena time series by the nonlinear stochastic Langevin equation.
3. Impact of snow redeposition on mass balance of polar glaciers.
4. Thermal and mechanical ablation of tidewater glaciers based on Terrestrial Laser Scanning surveys.
5. Multiparameter full-waveform inversion of regional marine reflection data.
6. Modern statistical methods of analysis of risk of hydrological extreme phenomena in polar environment.
7. LIDAR and photometric measurements synergy to investigation of aerosol variability in polar regions.

Institute of Oceanology PAS

1. Application of numerical modeling in investigations of changes in the ecosystem of West Spitsbergen fjords.
2. A statistical analysis of Arctic climate system variability in the era of satellite observations.
3. Interactions between large-scale atmospheric and oceanic processes and local hydrographic conditions in selected arctic fjords. [/expand]

The list of proposed topics for the academic year 2014/2015 [expand title=”more”]
Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia

1. An attempt to determine superimposed ice zones on polythermal glaciers by means of satellite remote sensing and field methods.
2. Application of satellite imagery for studies of tidewater glaciers dynamics (on Spitsbergen as an example).
3. Quantification of morphology features of outwash plains of different origin.
4. Pattern of snow cover thickness on Spitsbergen glaciers taking into account influence of orography and re-deposition.
5. Changes of water content and drainage in polythermal glaciers based on radio echo-sounding data.
6. Energy balance and effective ablation of crevassed zones on the Spitsbergen glaciers.
7. The main path of the depression tracks in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic.
8. Long-term variability of thermal and baric gradients between the Arctic and neighboring areas.
9. Occurrence of liquid precipitation in winter season at Spitsbergen on the background of current climate change.
10. Cryomineral formations of glaciers: their peculiarities, genesis, differentiation and scientific meaning.
11. Comprehensive evaluation of Arctic Region for tourism purposes.

Institute of Geophysics PAS

1. The evolution of marine sedimentation processes as a result of the Hans Glacier recesion (Isbjørnhamna, Spitsbergen).
2. The impact of the sea ice conditions on the wave propagation and coastal erosion based on Isbjørnhamna and Recherchefjorden (Spitsbergen).
3. Variability of the surface UV radiation reaching ground-level in the polar region.
4. Variability of the ground-albedo in different time scales and its impact on the surface UV level.
5. Flow characteristics in ice covered rivers.
6. Projections of changes in the mass of glaciers in the varying climatic conditions.
7. Seasonaldynamics oftemperature variationand the processes ofsedimentationin polar rivers and lakes.
8. Icequakes focal mechanism analysis.
9. Scaling relations in icequakes.
10. Modeling dynamics of ice-quakes  through the  fiber bundle model approach.
11. Modelling of icequake time series by the nonlinear stochastic Langevin equation.
12. Geotectonic  and  paleogeographic reconstruction of the Eastern Svalbard based on palaeomagnetic investigations of the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic successions of Nordaustlandet (Svalbard Archipelago).
13. Tidal instabilities in the Earth’s core and magnetic field oscillations in polar regions.
14. Impact of snow redeposition on mass balance of Arctic and Antarctic glaciers.

Institute of Oceanology PAS

1. The origins, distribution and properties of organic matter in the Arctic experimental and modelling approach.
2. Cycling of contaminants in the Arctic.
3. Zooplankton as the basic food source for bi-environmental birds in the warming Arctic.
4. Processes of colonization and succession in polar marine ecosystems.
5. Studies of marine aerosols in the marine boundary layer.
6. Study of mass, momentum and climate relevant gas fluxes across the sea surface in European Arctic.
7. Impact of aerosols on climate changes.
8. A statistical analysis of Arctic climate system variability in the era of satellite observations.
9. Transformation of water masses in the Nordic Seas.
10. The role of benthic megafauna in Spitsbergen fiords.
11. Foraminifera size as a climate change proxy in Holocene studies.
12. Size spectra in Arctic macrozoobenthos in response to climate change.

There is also possibility of proposing doctoral dissertation topic.
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