PhD position in planetary ice-phase astrochemistry at the University of Otago, New Zealand(Deadline 15.02.2026)

The Ennis laboratory is excited to announce a full PhD scholarship is available in the field of planetary ice spectroscopy, to support our team’s recent success in obtaining a Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund grant “Laboratory exploration of clathrate hydrate chemistry leading to the synthesis of amino acids: Assisting NASA Dragonfly’s search for the origin-of-life on Titan.” 

Applications are welcome from students, both domestic and international, who have completed an undergraduate, Honours or Masters degree. It is preferred the successful candidate will possess experience in physical chemistry/molecular physics laboratory techniques, specifically exposure to one or more of: high vacuum systems, vibrational spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, or x-ray diffraction being desired. Experience with DFT methods would also be of benefit. 

The stipend is $35,000 NZD with tuition and student fees provided for 3-years. The project will be carried out at the beautiful Dunedin campus at the University of Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. In addition, research work will require the PhD candidate to travel to ANSTO, Australia and Caltech, Jet Propulsion Laboratories (travel funding provided) to work alongside project team members; therefore, requiring visa and security clearances to work at each location. 

Ideally, the successful candidate will be able to commence the PhD project by 6 April 2026. 

We request applications (single page cover letter, CV with referees and transcripts) to be emailed to Courtney Ennis (courtney.ennis@otago.ac.nz) by Sunday 15 February. Please reach out for more information on the opportunity.