Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Group

What we do

Environmental issues such as climate change, photochemical smog and stratospheric ozone depletion are closely linked to anthropogenic activities and their influence on the chemical composition of the atmosphere. Our group studies the chemical composition of the atmosphere, the changing composition due to anthropogenic emissions, and interactions between atmospheric chemistry and the Earth's climate using atmospheric measurements, laboratory experiments and atmospheric modeling.

As university institute we aim at combining research with excellent education. We are one of the few groups in the Netherlands that will educate the next generation of scientists in the very relevant field of atmospheric research.

Our research program is to a large degree carried out by very motivated PhD students and PostDocs who operate in an international environment. Not only do our group members come from many different countries, we also have strong active collaborations to numerous national and international research groups. This also helps our group members to build their own network of professional relations. We also offer a wide range of research projects for master students, bachelor students, and (to a limited degree) high school students. Those student projects are usually connected to our real research program, and so each student helps to keep our group at the forefront of science on an international level. Student projects are offered for both the experimental and the computer modeling themes.

Our group operates a large atmospheric chemistry laboratory, where we develop and use isotope ratio measurement techniques and chemical ionization mass spectrometry techniques to investigate in detail the production and removal processes of atmospheric constituents. This laboratory is open to colleagues and visitors from all over the world. In fact, many of our research projects are carried out in the framework of international collaborations, where our group often contributes to large research programs.

As you can see on the research pages, research projects of our group are very diverse and cover a wide range of activities in atmospheric sciences, from aerosol-cloud interaction, via the global methane cycle to reconstruction of the paleo-atmosphere from ice core air. We chose for this diverse field so that everyone working in the group - as group member, student or visitor - is exposed to many different aspects of atmospheric research.

Of course, our permanent group members are also involved in the teaching program of Utrecht University, and we teach courses at the bachelor level and in our masters program. Furthermore, the atmosphere is an important constituent of the climate system, and our research is also relevant for the current climate change discussion. For this reason, we provide a university-wide lecture on 'Climate Change' to students outside the physics department and we regularly give lectures in the Utrecht master class series to high school students.