Student projects

This page contains examples of thesis and student projects that can be carried out under my supervision at the Niels Bohr Institute. The topics span glaciology, climate physics, geophysics, remote sensing, numerical modelling, and the occasional unconventional physics idea.

The projects listed here are intended as inspiration rather than a fixed catalogue. If one of them catches your interest, we can adapt it to your background and interests.

You are also very welcome to come by my office for a chat. I am happy to discuss your own ideas and help develop a project that is both interesting and achievable.

Remote sensing of the ice sheets and machine learning

Modern satellites provide an unprecedented view of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. However, many important variables remain only sparsely observed in the field. Machine learning offers new …

Nov 17, 2024

Can charged particles measure gravity?

Gravity is extraordinarily weak compared to electromagnetic forces. Could it nevertheless be measured using charged particles moving in electric and magnetic fields? In this computational physics …

Oct 21, 2026

Can Orbeez save the Greenland ice sheet?

Every summer, the ablation zone of the Greenland ice sheet loses meters of ice to melt. Could we slow it down by covering the surface with water-absorbing gel beads, the kind sold as toys under names …

Oct 23, 2026

Can we tow an iceberg to Cape Town?

Towing Antarctic icebergs to drought-stricken cities has been proposed since the 1970s, most recently for Cape Town and the United Arab Emirates. It sounds crazy, but is it?

Oct 23, 2026

Can we move Earth?

As the Sun slowly becomes brighter over billions of years, Earth will eventually become too hot to remain habitable. One proposed far-future solution is to gradually move Earth to a larger orbit. …

Oct 22, 2026

Hurricane surge damage (Completed)

How can we estimate how much extra hurricane damage we can expect due to sea level rise alone?

Nov 17, 2024

The nodal cycle in coastal sea level records (Completed)

Sea level rise will become a huge challenge for coastal societies around the world. We need good data, we need good models, and we need to understand all changes.

Nov 17, 2024