Ian Renfrew

[Fully-funded ARIES studentship covering tuition fees, maintenance stipend (£20,780 p.a. for 2025/26), and research training and support grant (RTSG). International applicants may have the difference between 'home' and 'international' fees waived, but relocation, visa, and health surcharge costs are not covered.] This PhD studentship at the University of East Anglia, supervised by Professor Ian Renfrew, investigates the impacts of windstorms and atmosphere-ocean coupling around Greenland in the context of a changing climate. The project addresses how Arctic climate change and sea-ice retreat are altering the interactions between the atmosphere and ocean, particularly through mesoscale weather systems such as barrier winds, polar lows, and tip jets. These systems are crucial for surface heat exchange, which is highest during cold-air outbreaks and high wind speeds. As sea-ice retreats, the regions of maximum heat flux shift, affecting atmospheric forcing in the Greenland and Iceland Seas and influencing major ocean currents in the Nordic Seas, with broader implications for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The research aims to quantify the impact of high windspeed events on atmosphere-ocean interactions, focusing on long-term changes due to sea-ice retreat and ocean circulation shifts. Key objectives include investigating the structure and characteristics of barrier winds off East Greenland using new wintertime observations from research cruises, conducting numerical weather prediction simulations with current and future sea-ice distributions, and examining the frequency and impacts of barrier winds and tip jets in present and future climates using advanced climate model simulations. The successful candidate will receive training in using the Met Office Unified Model for numerical weather prediction and in analyzing climate model outputs. There may be an opportunity to participate in a Norwegian-led research cruise in autumn 2026. Applicants should have a strong quantitative science background, with degrees in Physics, Maths, Meteorology, Oceanography, Geophysics, or similar fields, and an interest in data analysis and numerical modelling. Coding experience is desirable. The studentship is fully funded for eligible UK and international applicants, covering tuition fees, a maintenance stipend (£20,780 for 2025/26), and a research training and support grant. International students may have the fee difference waived, but must cover their own relocation, visa, and health surcharge costs. The application deadline is 7 January 2025, with a start date of 1 October 2026. Applications should be submitted via the University of East Anglia's postgraduate research portal.