PhD Position on AI Weather Modeling
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Meteorological Institute in the Faculty of Physics
PhD Position on AI Weather Modeling
LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT MÜNCHEN (LMU)
Faculty of Physics, Meteorological Institute, https://www.en.meteo.physik.uni-muenchen.de
We offer a PhD Position (TV-L13, 75% 4 years), to be filled as soon as possible. The position is located in the Chair of Theoretical Meteorology, a leading group in atmospheric dynamics research, including AI weather prediction, at the LMU, one of the top research universities in Germany.
The Project
The last three years have brought a revolution in weather forecasting – models based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) now outperform classic numerical weather prediction models on many scores, while running 100 times faster. These models are trained on very large data sets, but the internal processes they use to generate predictions are obscure. Given the importance of weather forecasts for society, it is critical to understand if the predictions are physically meaningful. Do they produce consistent patterns of weather and are errors in the forecast traceable so that the model can be improved?
This PhD project will investigate AICON, a state-of-the-art AI weather model from the German weather service DWD that became fully operational on 2 March 2026. This model is based on a Graph Neural Network with multi-head attention message passing. The goal is to understand the flow of information through the layers of the network as a dynamical system, using mechanistic interpretability methods that are being developed in Theoretical Meteorology group. AICON will be compared to other AI models to determine if there are universal physical principles that the models must learn in order to reproduce the training data.
The advertised position is part of the Extramurale Forschungsprogramm funded by the German Weather service (DWD), in which German universities perform basic research related to improving weather forecasts. The project is part of an ongoing collaboration between the AI modeling groups at LMU and DWD, and thus offers a chance to engage with both theoretical and practical aspects of machine learning.
Your profile
We are looking for a motivated, open-minded, curious and creative PhD candidate. The candidate must qualify for admission to the doctoral program at LMU, for example with a Master in meteorology, physics, mathematics, computer science, or equivalent. Previous knowledge of atmospheric dynamics or machine learning is desirable, as is knowledge of Python and UNIX/Linux. Very good written and spoken English skills are required.
The ideal start date would be 1 June 2026. The position is limited to 4 years at 75% of full time. LMU Munich is an equal opportunity employer. The University continues to be very successful in increasing the number of female faculty members and strongly encourages applications from female candidates. LMU Munich intends to enhance the diversity of its faculty members. Furthermore, disabled candidates with essentially equal qualifications will be given preference.
Please submit your application comprising a curriculum vitae, documentation of academic degrees and certificates to Prof. Dr. George Craig (george.craig@lmu.de), Lehrstuhl für Theoretische Meteorologie, Theresienstrasse 37, D-80333 München before 15 April 2026. Email applications are preferred.