2026 Internship Opportunities

Sea ice mediates atmosphere-ocean exchange and helps regulate Earth’s energy budget. Therefore, accurately modelling sea ice extent is necessary to produce reliable climate projections. However, Arctic sea ice is undergoing rapid changes due to anthropogenic forcing, and predicting these changes is difficult since sea ice concentration is controlled by a complex combination of atmospheric and oceanic processes. Coupling between sea ice and the upper ocean occurs through various thermodynamic and mechanical processes. For example, sea ice dampens surface gravity waves and wind-driven momentum transfers. Quantifying these different interactions is difficult because of the difficulty of collecting ocean measurements in the Arctic. Ice tethered profilers are a unique autonomous platform that collects oceanographic data underneath sea ice. This project will use data from these profilers to estimate vertical ocean heat transport to the base of the ice and connect this to physical processes such as eddies and frontal instabilities.

The student will work as part of a team of researchers in the Ocean Dynamics Lab and larger Cryosphere Research Group at the University of Edinburgh, to carry out a research project examining observations from ice tethered profilers in the central Arctic Ocean. The project will involve conducting data analysis in Python, reading scientific papers to help interpret the results, as well as developing scientific presentation and writing skills.

During the internship, the student will learn or improve their scientific computing and data analysis skills, as well as gain familiarity with the process of conducting academic research. The project will put into practice fundamental ideas from physical oceanography and sea ice dynamics. The student will also learn how to give an effective research presentation and write a scientific abstract.

Any major in physical sciences or engineering, e.g. geosciences, physics, math, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer science

Prior experience programming in Python is desired but not necessary

Desirable to provide your own laptop

• The internship is located in the UK. A visa is not necessary for US citizens (who can stay in the UK for up to 6 months as a standard visitor), but may be required for other nationalities. Please get in touch if you are unsure about this.  
• Student(s) are responsible for securing accommodations for the duration of the internship.
• Students will meet with internship mentors in the spring, prior to the internship start date. Reading materials may also be provided.
• Students will need to consult UHS for travel medical requirements. It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of entry requirements and to obtain any necessary documentation. Valid passport required. Students are required to register their travel with the University through Enroll My Trip. Information related to the University’s Permissible Travel Guidelines can be found here. Funding is contingent on travel registration and University approval.