PhD Studies

The Ph.D. studies at the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, begun the present form of activity in 2000. Currently, there are eleven students, four of which have already opened the formal Ph.D. track procedure. Up to now, over 10 participants have defended their theses and begun their own scientific career. The overall number of students that took part in the Ph.D. program exceeded 20.
The Ph.D. study director is Assoc. Prof. Włodzimierz Bielski; organizational matters are managed by Anna Łukanowska from the Scientific Secretary Office.
The Institute runs four-year Ph.D. studies in the following scientific disciplines:

Seismology and physics of the Earth’s Interior

• • Analysis of earthquakes and mining-induced tremors; seismicity of Poland; structure and geodynamics of the crust and upper mantle of the Earth as derived from deep seismic sounding and natural seismicity; seismic tomography. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Wojciech Dębski
  • Earthquake physics: theory, modeling and computer simulations; forecast methods. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Piotr Senatorski
  • Stochastic methods for the modeling of geophysical events. Evolution of stochastic processes studied by means of Master, Ito and Fokker-Planck equations. In particular, insight into the reasons why power distributions and fractals, so common in geosciences, are formed. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Zbigniew Czechowski
  • Study of the Earth’s mantle structure on the basis of natural earthquakes and controlled sources (with special attention to the data from USArray). Two and three-dimensional modeling of the upper mantle structure . Effect of the structure on geodynamic concepts. Relations between the seismic surveys and petrological models of the Earth mantle. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Edward Perchuć
  • Mathematical modeling of macroscopic beaviour of geomaterials and porous media. Study of the effect of microstructure of the geomaterials on their properties, effective parameters and filtration rules. Development and study of the effective macroscopic models for problems of transport, diffusion and flow through porous media. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Włodzimierz Bielski

Hydrology and Hydrodynamics

• • Assessment of risk relating to transport and mixing of contamination in river flows. Contact: Prof. Paweł Rowiński
  • Transport in natural water flows, in channels of complex cross-sections and rivers of rough bottom. Contact: Prof. Paweł Rowiński
  • Uncertainty analysis of solute transport models. Contact – Assoc. Prof. Renata Romanowicz
  • Managing storage reservoirs during spring discharge transformation, with an account for inflow forecast uncertainty. Contact: Prof. Jarosław Napiórkowski
  • Modeling of flood risk by means of hydraulic and hydrological models of flood wave transformation and the newest achievements in statistical theory of extreme events. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Renata Romanowicz
  • Effect of predicted climate changes on the elements of water budget of river catchments, in particular changes in water storage in the snow cover. Contact: Assoc. Prof. Renata Romanowicz

Polar research

Contact: Assoc. Prof. Piotr Głowacki

• • Dynamics of iced and non-iced basins in polar regions
  • Dynamics of changes of many-year permafrost during climate warming
  • Non-invasive methods of the study of natural environment of polar zones

Magnetism and paleomagnetism

• • Paleomagnetic and magnetic anisotropy research and the study of other magnetic properties of rocks as applied for solving geological and paleogeographical problems (e.g., of Poland, Central-Eastern Europe and Spitsbergen).
  • Study of magnetic properties of magnetic remenence carriers in rocks and soils.
  • The use of environmental mangetism for the recognition of anthropogenic contamination of soil.
  • Numerical modeling of the distribution of electric conductivity in three-dimensional structures.

Proposed Ph.D. disertation topics in the Department of Hydrology and Hydrodynamics

1. Study of the effect of changes in the land use and water economy on the water conditions of lowland basins evoked by climate changes, by applying regional climatic models and hydrological models.
2. The effect of climate changes on water flow in Poland (Europe), determination of long- and short-term trends in extreme conditions (floods and droughts); relation with the occurrence of NAO (North Atlantic Oscillations) and the North Atlantic Weather regimes.
3. Models of short-term flow forecast: forecast of thaw flows, snow melting models for anti-flood protection; assimilation of real-time observations for the needs of anti-flood warning and control of water energetic systems (real-time multi-criterion management).
4. Warning systems against an ecological disaster resulting from accidental contamination outburst; assessment of risk and uncertainty relating to transport model and observations; determination of dynamic maps of risk of river flow pollution (a case study of Upper Narew).
5. Development of decision making suport module for the needs of sustainable development of catchments under the conditions of uncertainty; a case study of application in the Upper Narew catchment.
6. Comparison of climatic-hydrological conditions in central Europe and Arctic regions.

The Institute is only interested in the applicants who have achieved high grades in the course of their studies. The participants receive a scholarship. We guarantee a good and friendly atmosphere of work.
The Institute of Geophysics has a first category in the classification of the Committee for Scientific Research and is included to the list of European Commission Centres of Excellence
More information can be provided by:
Director of the Studies: Assoc. Prof. Włodzimierz Bielski, tel. 6915682,
e-mail:wbielski@igf.edu.pl
Scientific Secretary: Anna Łukanowska, M.Sc. , tel. 6915981, e-mail: sn@igf.edu.pl