Curriculum Vitae

This section contains my academic curriculum vitae, updated regularly as my career progresses.

Jobs

Jan 2014 - Jul 2019

PhD in Geodynamics.

LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.

Nov 2019 - Nov 2023

Research Fellow (Level A & B).

ANU, RSES, Geophysics, Canberra, Australia.

Dec 2023 - Present

Faculty (Level B).

ANU, RSES, Climate and Ocean Geoscience, Canberra, Australia.

Education

Sep 2006 - Jun 2011

BSc in Physics.

Uni Tehran.

Oct 2011 - July 2013

MSc in Geophysics.

LMU Munich + TUM Munich.

Jan 2014 - Jul 2019

PhD in Geodynanmics.

LMU Munich.

Thesis: Reconstruction of Mantle Flow in Space and Time

Talks and Seminars

ETH Zurich – 2025, Zurich
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics – 2024, New Delhi
Australian Earth Science Convention – 2023, Perth
Geophysics Seminar – May 2023, LMU Munich
EGU 2023 – The Earth surface as a window into the asthenosphere and deeper mantle
Geocomputing Seminar – March 2022, LMU, Munich
AGU 2021, Session – Integrative Perspectives on Present-day Mantle Structure
EarthByte Group – September 2021, School of Geosciences of the University of Sydney
Basin Genesis Hub Workshop – 2019, Sydney
SIAM Conference on Mathematical and Computational Issues in Geosciences – 2019, Houston

Awards, Fellowships, Affiliations

Nominated for the J. G. Russell Award by the Australian Academy of Sciences for the top-ranked DECRA applicant of the year in Sciences
DECRA (Discovery Early Career Researcher Award) Fellow of the Australian Research Council (2025)
Fellow of the Institute for Water Futures, ANU (2024–present)
Affiliated Investigator of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), 2022–Present
Computers & Geosciences Research Scholarship Award, International Association of Mathematical Geosciences (2019)

Academic Supervision

Dr Hamish Brown: Supervisors: Sia Ghelichkhan, Rhodri Davies; 2025 – Present
Dr Liam Morrow: Supervisor: Sia Ghelichkhan; 2024 – Present
Dr Will Scott: Supervisors: Rhodri Davies, Sia Ghelichkhan, Mark Hoggard; 2023 – Present
Ruby Turner: Primary Supervisor: Sia Ghelichkhan; 2023 – 2025
Hojatollah Shirmardgouravan: Supervisors: R. Dietmar Müller, Sia Ghelichkhan; 2023 – Present
Tom New: Supervisors: Maria Seton, Sia Ghelichkhan, Rhodri Davies, Ben Mather; 2023 – Present
Ishan Tandon: Supervisors: Sia Ghelichkhan, Mark Hoggard, Rhys Hawkins, Rhodri Davies; Jun–Dec 2023

Grants and Funding

Selected grants and funding awards include:

DECRA Fellowship: Sea Level in the MPWP: Unveiling Dynamic Topography Effects. ARC, AUD 563,281 (2024)
Modelling Australia’s Water Dynamics, SmartSat CRC, AUD 500,000. CI: S. Ghelichkhan, P. Tregoning (2024)
CoastRI GIA Modelling, AuScope, AUD 1,418,350. CIs: D. R. Davies, S. Ghelichkhan, A. Gibson, M. Hoggard (2022)
Next generation sea-level modelling, Geoscience Australia, AUD 150,000. CIs: M. Hoggard, S. Ghelichkhan (2021)
G-ADOPT, ARDC, AUD 1,355,492. CIs: D. R. Davies, S. Ghelichkhan, M. Sambridge, R. D. Müller et al. (2021)

Publications

S. Ghelichkhan, M. Hoggard, F. Richards, N. Chan, J. Creveling, K. Moore and J. Mitrovica (2025) Closing the budget of 20th century true polar wander Geophysical Journal International, ggaf197 DOI: 10.1093/gji/ggaf197

M. Andersen, P. Béguelin, A. Biggin, C. Davies, T. Elliot, Y. Engbers, V. Fernandes, M. Ferreira, S. Fowler, S. Ghelichkhan and others (2025) How to assess similarities and differences between mantle circulation models and earth using disparate independent observations Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2024.0827

C. O’Malley, G. Roberts, J. Panton, F. Richards, J. Davies, V. Fernandes and S. Ghelichkhan (2024) Reconciling surface deflections from simulations of global mantle convection DOI: 10.5194/gmd-17-9023-2024

P. Sternai, S. Pilia, S. Ghelichkhan, B. lPierre, M. Armel, R. Davies, L. Ostorero, B. Vaes, R. Esposito, G. Eduardo, S. Cloetingh and T. Gerya (2024) Raising the roof of the world: A key role for intra-crustal mantle in supporting tibet Science

S. Ghelichkhan, A. Gibson, D. Davies, S. Kramer and D. Ham (2024) Automatic adjoint-based inversion schemes for geodynamics: Reconstructing the evolution of earth’s mantle in space and time Geoscientific Model Development, 17(13), 5057-5086 DOI: 10.5194/gmd-17-5057-2024

C. Eakin, D. Davies, S. Ghelichkhan, J. O’Donnell and S. Agrawal (2023) The influence of lithospheric thickness variations beneath australia on seismic anisotropy and mantle flow Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24(9), e2023GC011066 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GC011066

D. Davies, S. Ghelichkhan, M. Hoggard, A. Valentine and F. Richards (2023) Chapter 11 - observations and models of dynamic topography: Current status and future directions Dynamics of plate tectonics and mantle convection, 223-269 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85733-8.00017-2

H. Bunge, A. Horbach, L. Colli, S. Ghelichkhan, B. Vilacís and J. Hayek (2023) Geodynamic data assimilation: Techniques and observables to construct and constrain time-dependent earth models Applications of data assimilation and inverse problems in the earth sciences, 311-325 DOI: 10.1017/9781009180412.021

S. Pilia, D. Davies, R. Hall, C. Bacon, A. Gilligan, T. Greenfield, F. Tongkul, S. Kramer, C. Wilson, S. Ghelichkhan, D. Cornwell, L. Colli and N. Rawlinson (2023) Post-subduction tectonics induced by extension from a lithospheric drip Nature Geoscience, 1-7 DOI: 10.1038/s41561-023-01201-7

F. Richards, M. Hoggard, S. Ghelichkhan, P. Koelemeijer and H. Lau (2023) Geodynamic, geodetic, and seismic constraints favour deflated and dense-cored LLVPs Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 602, 117964 DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117964

Z. Wang, I. Stotz, H. Bunge, B. Vilacı́s, J. Hayek, S. Ghelichkhan and S. Lebedev (2023) Cenozoic upper mantle flow history of the atlantic realm based on couette/poiseuille models: Towards paleo-mantle-flowgraphy Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 340, 107045 DOI: 10.1016/j.pepi.2023.107045

D. Davies, S. Kramer, S. Ghelichkhan and A. Gibson (2022) Towards automatic finite-element methods for geodynamics via firedrake Geoscientific Model Development, 15(13), 5127-5166 DOI: 10.5194/gmd-15-5127-2022

S. Ghelichkhan, H. Bunge and J. Oeser (2021) Global mantle flow retrodictions for the early Cenozoic using an adjoint method: evolving dynamic topographies, deep mantle structures, flow trajectories and sublithospheric stresses Geophysical Journal International, 226(2), 1432-1460 DOI: 10.1093/gji/ggab108

M. Hoggard, K. Czarnota, F. Richards, D. Huston, A. Jaques and S. Ghelichkhan (2020) Global distribution of sediment-hosted metals controlled by craton edge stability Nature Geoscience, 13(7), 504-510 DOI: 10.1038/s41561-020-0593-2

S. Bauer, H. Bunge, D. Drzisga, S. Ghelichkhan, M. Huber, N. Kohl, M. Mohr, U. Rüde, D. Thönnes and B. Wohlmuth (2020) TerraNeo – mantle convection beyond a trillion degrees of freedom Software for exascale computing SPPEXA 2016-2019, 569-610 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-47956-5\_19

F. Richards, M. Hoggard, N. White and S. Ghelichkhan (2020) Quantifying the relationship between short-wavelength dynamic topography and thermomechanical structure of the upper mantle using calibrated parameterization of anelasticity Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 125(9), e2019JB019062 DOI: 10.1029/2019JB019062

S. Ghelichkhan, J. Fuentes, M. Hoggard, F. Richards and J. Mitrovica (2020) The precession constant and its long-term variation Icarus, 114172 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2020.114172

K. Czarnota, M. Hoggard, F. Richards, M. Teh, D. Huston, L. Jacques and S. Ghelichkhan (2020) Minerals on the edge: Sediment-hosted base metal endowment above steps in lithospheric thickness DOI: 10.11636/134991

F. Richards, M. Hoggard, A. Crosby, S. Ghelichkhan and N. White (2020) Structure and dynamics of the oceanic lithosphere-asthenosphere system Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 309, 106559 DOI: 10.1016/j.pepi.2020.106559

H. Bunge, L. Colli, S. Ghelichkhan and J. Oeser (2019) Deep time reconstructions of internal earth structure with the adjoint method Acta Geologica Sinica-English Edition, 93(S3), 3-4

A. Friedrich, H. Bunge, R. Stefanie, L. Colli, S. Ghelichkhan and R. Nerlich (2018) Stratigraphic framework for the plume mode of mantle convection and the analysis of interregional unconformities on geological maps Gondwana Research, 53, 159-188 DOI: 10.1016/j.gr.2017.06.003

S. Bauer, M. Huber, S. Ghelichkhan, M. Mohr, U. Rüde and B. Wohlmuth (2018) Large-scale Simulation of Mantle Convection Based on a New Matrix-Free Approach special issue of Journal of Computational Science DOI: 10.1016/j.jocs.2018.12.006

L. Colli, S. Ghelichkhan, H. Bunge and J. Oeser (2018) Retrodictions of Mid Paleogene mantle flow and dynamic topography in the Atlantic region from compressible high resolution adjoint mantle convection models: Sensitivity to deep mantle viscosity and tomographic input model Gondwana Research, 53, 252-272 DOI: 10.1016/j.gr.2017.04.027

S. Ghelichkhan and H. Bunge (2018) The adjoint equations for thermochemical compressible mantle convection: derivation and verification by twin experiments Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2018.0329,

S. Ghelichkhan, M. Murböck, L. Colli, R. Pail and H. Bunge (2018) On the observability of epeirogenic movement in current and future gravity missions Gondwana Research, 53, 273-284 DOI: 10.1016/j.gr.2017.04.016

R. Nerlich, L. Colli, S. Ghelichkhan, B. Schuberth and H. Bunge (2016) Constraining central Neo-Tethys Ocean reconstructions with mantle convection models Geophysical Research Letters, 43(18), 9595-9603 DOI: 10.1002/2016gl070524

S. Ghelichkhan and H. Bunge (2016) The compressible adjoint equations in geodynamics: derivation and numerical assessment GEM - International Journal on Geomathematics, 7(1) DOI: 10.1007/s13137-016-0080-5

L. Colli, S. Ghelichkhan and H. Bunge (2016) On the ratio of dynamic topography and gravity anomalies in a dynamic Earth Geophysical Research Letters, 43(6), 2510-2516 DOI: 10.1002/2016GL067929

J. Weismüller, B. Gmeiner, S. Ghelichkhan, M. Huber, L. John, B. Wohlmuth, U. Rüde and H. Bunge (2015) Fast asthenosphere motion in high-resolution global mantle flow models Geophysical Research Letters, 42(18), 7429-7435 DOI: 10.1002/2015GL063727

S. Ghelichkhan (2013) Adjoint method in mantle convection: Impact of model parameters