The Niels Bohr Institute/Astrophysics and Planetary Science section invites applicants for two PhD fellowships in the chemistry of planet formation. The project is part of the Villum Young Investigator project “Chemistry meets Astrophysics: pathways to life-enabling ingredients during planet formation.
Project 1
The PhD project 1 will investigate how the chemical composition of planet-forming disks shapes the volatile inventories of planets. Recent observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed a surprising diversity in the chemistry of inner disks, including systems that appear depleted in water but enriched in hydrocarbons. The project will combine infrared spectroscopic observations from JWST with data from the Atacama Large (sub-)Millimeter Array (ALMA) to characterize the chemical composition and physical structure of disks around very low-mass objects. These observations will be complemented by numerical simulations to put firm constraints on the physical and chemical processes responsible for the observed diversity. The project will help establish how variations in disk chemistry influence the building blocks of planets.
Start date is (expected to be) 01.09.2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Project 2
The PhD project 2 will focus on characterizing the solid budget of planet-forming disks, including both ices and refractory materials. The student will analyze infrared spectroscopic observations obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), targeting a sample of protoplanetary disks. Spectral decomposition will be carried out using state-of-the-art fitting routines in combination with laboratory ice spectra, and the analysis will be complemented by radiative transfer modeling to derive ice column densities. By characterizing disk ices across a statistically significant sample, the project aims to reveal the chemical composition of the solid building blocks available for planet formation.
Start date is (expected to be) 01.01.2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.