The Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences is the national centre for geosphere research. As a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres we are part of the largest scientific organization in Germany. With approximately 1,500 employees our key mission is to secure a profound understanding of the systems and processes of solid Earth, to develop strategies and options for action in addressing global change and its impacts on a regional level, to understand natural hazards and to minimize associated risks, to ensure the sustainable provision of energy and raw materials for a high-tech society and to evaluate the influence of human activity on system Earth.
The Earth-Atmosphere Interactions Group of Section 1.4 "Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics" (department “Geodesy”) offers a position as
within a recently funded project on the peat-preserving utilization of fens in den state of Brandenburg. BLuMo is a collaborative project funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) for the duration of ten years, involving partners at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) and the Brandenburg State Agency for the Environment (LfU). The main goal is to demonstrate how rewetting fens and continued biomass production and utilization can go hand in hand. Our task is to monitor and understand the consequences of rewetting and continued use on CO2 and CH4 fluxes.
You will initiate and lead the establishment and operation of three eddy covariance flux towers and integrate them into a growing peatland flux tower network in NE Germany, collaborating closely with a second similar project in our group.
We seek an experienced and independent scientist willing and able to take full responsibility for the project. The successful applicant should be well-connected in the Fluxnet community and have a strong track-record in eddy-covariance based GHG flux measurements, data post-processing and analysis, and high-profile publications. Additional experience in integrating flux data and remote sensing is an advantage.
- Overall management of the project and communication with project collaborators
- Establishment and operation of three peatland flux tower sites incl. all ancillary measurements
- Post-processing, qa/qc, quantitative analysis and publication of flux tower data
- Generation and testing of hypotheses
- Master`s degree (or equivalent) and doctoral degree in atmospheric/environmental science, meteorology, physics, geoecology, or related field
- In-depth knowledge of land-atmosphere interactions, EC flux and other micro-met measurements
- Excellent coding and quantitative analytical skills, preferably in R, Matlab, or Python
- Creative & critical thinking and ability to publish shown by a track record of original and innovative research
- Intention to actively develop your research career
- Strong motivation and excellent oral and written communication skills
- Ability to work both independently and in an integrated team environment
- Fluency in English (written and spoken), German is beneficial as project reports will have to be written in German.
- Long-term project funding with the opportunity to turn into a permanent position
- Excellent research environment and a young and motivated international team
- Outstanding technical, organizational, and data management support by a full time scientific engineer
- Generous resources for equipment, consumables, travel, and open access publishing
- Extensive training opportunities and an in-house career development center
- Institute day-care centre on site
- Flexible working hours and conditions
- Support with finding a good work-life balance offered by benefit@work
- A beautiful and historic science campus in a park setting with a history going back to Michelson and Einstein
Start date: As soon as possible
Fixed-term: 2 years with the option to extend until 31st December 2031
Salary: The position is classed as salary group 13 according to “TVöD Bund (Tarifgebiet West)”. The salary group is determined on the basis of the Collective Wage Agreement and the respective personal qualifications.
Working hours: Full-time (currentl