Postdoctoral position in mineralogy, petrophysics and seismic methods with focus on graphite exploration Full-time

Postdoctoral Position in Mineralogy, Petrology and Seismic Methods with Focus on Graphite Exploration

Postdoctoral position in mineralogy, petrophysics and seismic methods with focus on graphite exploration

Are you interested in developing innovative and cost-effective methods for graphite exploration in close collaboration with academic and industrial partners? Would you like to work in an international research environment with access to advanced petrophysical and geophysical methods? We welcome you to apply for a postdoctoral position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Earth Sciences is Sweden's most comprehensive academic environment for research and education in geoscience. It offers a broad range of expertise that can contribute to solving important societal issues.

Earth is a dynamic and constantly changing planet. To understand how this planet works, our researchers seek answers in the field, through laboratory experiments and advanced models. Our research and education cover a wide range of disciplines, including rocks and minerals, weather and climate, the evolution of life, natural disasters, wind power and energy, environmental and water engineering, and sustainable development.

Our research combines natural sciences and technology with social sciences and is often interdisciplinary. More than 300 people from over 30 countries work at the department, both in Uppsala and at Campus Gotland.

The postdoctoral researcher will work within the Vinnova-funded ICE-GRAPH project (Innovative and cost-effective approaches to graphite exploration). The main objective is to develop and validate a transferable exploration methodology combining mineralogy, structural geology, and laboratory petrophysics with passive seismic data to identify and assess graphite- and carbonaceous-matter-bearing rocks. The project includes case studies of Alum Shale in the Scandinavian Caledonides and the graphitic schists and gneisses in the Fennoscandian Shield, including the Woxna area. It is conducted in collaboration with Woxna Graphite AB and within the Smart Exploration Research Centre (SERC), providing access to a broad network across academia, geological surveys and the mineral industry.

Duties

You will contribute to the project's petrophysical and geophysical research and to the development of an integrated methodology for graphite exploration. The work includes planning and conducting laboratory-based petrophysical investigations, analysing seismic and rock-fabric data, and integrating these results with geological, mineralogical and structural information from the project and related collaborations.

The position involves interpretation of the relationships between rock properties, deformation, metamorphic conditions and geophysical response, as well as evaluation of how laboratory measurements can be used to constrain field-scale seismic observations. You will also contribute to the development and validation of transferable approaches for exploration screening, target evaluation and decision support in collaboration with academic and industrial partners.

The duties further include scientific publication, presentation of results at conferences and project meetings, project reporting, and research data management. The duties may also include limited participation in teaching and contribution to the supervision of BSc and MSc student projects (up to 20%). The position requires participation in fieldwork, laboratory investigations and project meetings, including associated travel within Sweden and internationally.

Requirements

PhD degree in geophysics, rock physics, petrophysics, structural geology, petrology or a closely related geoscientific discipline, or a foreign degree equivalent to such a PhD degree. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Priority will be given to applicants who have completed their degree no more than three years before the deadline for applications. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

The position also requires:

• documented experience in one or more of the following: petrophysical, rock-physical, seismic, mineralogical or petrological investigation of rocks or other geological materials;
• experience in quantitative data analysis and scientific interpretation of laboratory or geophysical datasets;
• ability to work independently, plan and document research, and complete tasks within agreed time frames;
• good collaborative and communication skills in an interdisciplinary and international environment;
• excellent spoken and written English.

Great emphasis will be placed on personal suitability, particularly analytical ability, accuracy, initiative and the ability to integrate laboratory data with geological and geophysical observations.

Additional qualifications Documented knowledge or experience in one or more of the following areas is advantageous:

• documented knowledge in seismic theory and experience with seismic data analysis, or similar geophysical datasets;
• measurement or modelling of P- and S-wave velocities, elastic properties or seismic anisotropy;
• knowledge/experience in theory, processing and/or data acquisition for seismic methods, in particular one or more of the following: surface-wave analysis, HVSR, ambient-noise analysis, seismic inversion, seismic tomography, reflection seismics, refraction seismics;
• AMS, rock magnetism, crystallographic orientation or another quantitative method for characterising rock fabric;
• programming and reproducible data analysis, for example in Python, MATLAB or R;
• integration of laboratory petrophysical measurements with field-scale geophysical data;
• geological or mineralogical understanding of metamorphic, graphite-bearing or organic-rich rocks;
• collaboration with the mineral industry, geological surveys or applied mineral-exploration projects.

About the employment

The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to the central collective agreement. Full-time position. Starting date 15 of October 2026 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Iwona Klonowska, iwona.klonowska@geo.uu.se or Christian Schiffer, christian.schiffer@geo.uu.se

Please submit your application by 28 of August 2026, UFV-PA 2026/2407.