Climate and Fluid Physics Group, The Australian National University

The Climate and Fluid Physics (CFP) Group sits with the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES), which is Australia’s leading academic research institution for Earth & Marine Sciences (QS World University Rankings by Subject). We study the fluid mechanics and thermodynamics that underpin ocean/atmosphere circulation and the climate system. We have a reputation for international leadership and innovation, focused on developing new experimental, theoretical and computational methods. Our cutting-edge facilities include direct access to Australia’s National Computational Infrastructure supercomputer (based at ANU), software development support through the ACCESS-NRI (based at ANU), and Australia’s only climate processes laboratory (cfplab.org). We have strong connections with leading international institutions including NOAA-GFDL, the primary developers of Australia’s ocean modelling system. In addition, we play a leading role in all major national research collaborations in the climate and ocean sciences including Centres of Excellence in Antarctic Science, Future Oceans, and 21^st Century Weather, as well as the National Environmental Science Program’s Climate Systems Hub. These facilities and connections, coupled with our collegial research environment, provide an unparalleled setting for the training of our early career researchers. The CFP group is particularly renowned in Australia for producing highly skilled and quantitatively-minded graduates who go on to become leaders in academia and industry, both in Australia and abroad. Notable outcomes for our graduates include 3 Uwe Radok Thesis Awards in the past decade (awarded for the best Australian thesis in atmosphere/ocean science in a given calendar year) and postdoctoral roles at prestigious institutions including MIT, Princeton and Cambridge. We provide students with extensive opportunities for professional development, including through extended research visits with our international partners, industry internships, as well as media training, communication and writing workshops.

Homepage: https://earthsciences.anu.edu.au/research/research-groups/climate-and-fluid-physics

We invite outstanding candidates to apply for five PhD scholarships within the Climate and Fluid Physics Group at The Australian National University (ANU). Our group is internationally recognised for leading research in ocean dynamics, Antarctic margin processes, climate variability, and geophysical fluid dynamics.

Students will benefit from direct access to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest supercomputing facility and a 400 m² laboratory purpose-built for studying climate processes. You will join a vibrant community of climate scientists at ANU and collaborate closely via national research initiatives, including the ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Our Future Oceans, and the Consortium for Ocean–Sea Ice Modelling in Australia.

Throughout your PhD, you will have opportunities to develop broad research and professional skills through industry internships, graduate training programs, and specialist workshops in writing, communication, and professional development.

Available PhD Topics

We are currently seeking PhD students for the topics listed below. Detailed project descriptions will be developed by discussion between potential candidates and supervisors as part of the application process. Relevant potential supervisors are listed for each topic.

1. Coupled Climate and Weather
Changes in weather systems are reshaping global food, energy, and water security. Understanding future weather behaviour—and its links to dynamical processes and climate variability—is essential to supporting climate resilience. Projects are available in:

• Global coupled climate modelling
• Air–sea interactions
• High-resolution and/or idealised atmospheric modelling for the Australian region
• Climate-hydrology interactions
• Climate modes of variability and their impacts
• El Niño-Southern Oscillation dynamics and future projections
• Future climate

Supervisors: Dr Nicola Maher, Dr Chiara Holgate, A/Prof Callum Shakespeare

2. Antarctic Oceanography
The transport of heat onto the Antarctic continental shelf influences deep water formation, ice-shelf melt, and global sea-level rise. Projects are available in:

• Ice-cavity dynamics
• Ice–ocean interactions
• Antarctic coastal current systems

Supervisors: Dr Adele Morrison, Dr Kial Stewart, A/Prof Callum Shakespeare

3. Internal Wave and Submesoscale Dynamics
Finescale ocean processes, including internal waves and submesoscale turbulence, play a critical role in ocean mixing and the uptake of heat and carbon. Improving their representation is central to advancing global ocean and climate models. Projects are available in:

• Internal wave–eddy interactions
• Ocean bottom boundary layer dynamics

Supervisors: A/Prof Callum Shakespeare, Dr Kial Stewart

4. Seamless cross-scale ocean modelling: from the coast to the deep blue

As part of the recently funded Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Our Future Oceans we are investing in developing a new ocean modelling framework that bridges between traditional open ocean and coastal models. This new infrastructure will simulate ocean physics and biogeochemistry, smoothly transitioning from existing global modelling systems at 10 km resolution, to circum-Australia models at ~1 km, and finally down to metre-scale models at the coastline. PhD students are sought to contribute to various aspects of this cross-institutional project as part of a large team of scientists and software engineers. Projects in this space would suit students with an interest in model development and software engineering.

Supervisors: Dr Adele Morrison, A/Prof Callum Shakespeare

Eligibility and Support

We encourage applications from students with a Masters degree or equivalent. Successful candidates will receive:

• Full tuition fee waiver
• Tax-free stipend of AUD $39,069 per year for the duration of the PhD (typically 3.5 years)
• Possible top-ups for exceptional candidates.

Please submit an Expression of Interest via email to callum.shakespeare@anu.edu.au by 28 February 2026. The expression of interest should include:

• Cover letter describing your academic background and which topic(s) above are of interest
• Academic transcripts for your undergraduate and graduate studies
• Curriculum vitae