Five Postdoctoral or PhD Researchers in Quantitative Environmental Sciences (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany)

KIT is seeking to appoint up to 5 quantitative Environmental Scientists as either postdoctoral
researchers or PhD students. The successful applicants will contribute to a number of EU-funded
research projects exploring the impacts of environmental and policy change on land use and
ecosystems, including biodiversity at large spatial scales (European to global). The positions will be held within the Land Use & Climate Change Research Group (https://landchange.imk-ifu.kit.edu/) and/or the Global Land Ecosystem Modelling Group (https://lemg.imk-ifu.kit.edu/) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Specifically, we seek researchers to address the following topics:

1. The contribution of sustainable forest management to climate change mitigation, adaptation and nature conservation;
2. The nexus between biodiversity, food and timber production, climate change mitigation, water resources and health;
3. Nature-based solutions to reduce climate change risks;
4. The role of international trade and environmental policy in land use and ecosystem change.

You will contribute to the further development and application of the LandSyMM modelling framework (https://landsymm.earth/) using environmental modelling, data analysis methods and literature review. Willingness to engage with stakeholders is also expected for some of the tasks. The positions will entail contributions to project management and reporting, and some teaching. The positions are available from September 2022 for 2-3 years initially with the potential for extension beyond this period.

Applications should be sent by email to Sylvia Kratz (sylvia.kratz@kit.edu) by Friday 22 April 2022, quoting the reference, 5MRAA. Applications should be submitted within a single PDF document that includes your CV, publications list (with citations), a short (1-2 page) letter of motivation and contact details for 2 referees. The motivation letter should clearly state a) your skills and experience in quantitative environmental sciences b) whether you are applying for a postdoctoral or PhD position, and c) how your research interests relate to the topics given above and the project descriptions in the annex. Please also indicate where you heard about this job opportunity.

Program Manager for Carbon Dioxide Removal Project at LMU Munich, Germany

The Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich’s Department of Geography invites applications (full-time) for Program Manager for Carbon Dioxide Removal Project.

The chair for Geography and Land Use Systems carries out fundamental and applied research on the human impact on climate via land use. It leads the synthesis, transfer, and coordination project for the BMBF funding line on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR; https://www.fona.de/de/massnahmen/foerdermassnahmen/co2-entnahmemethoden-cdr.php).

To limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement’s goals, greenhouse gas neutrality needs to be reached within the next few decades. This will likely require CDR in addition to emissions reductions. Projects in the BMBF program on terrestrial, geological, and material-based CDR and a parallel program on marine CDR methods aim to provide a systematic and comprehensive science basis of potentials, implementability, risks, and side-effects in the Earth system of various CDR methods and pathways and will investigate feedbacks with other Sustainable Development Goals. The CDR program aims to enhance the research capacities in Germany for CDR, strengthen the links between research and other stakeholders, and provide an adequate scientific basis for political decision-making in research and climate policy.

The Program Manager will work closely with the Scientific Coordinator, Transfer Manager, and Public Relations Officer. Specific tasks comprise of:

• acting as the focal point for internal and external concerns of the program, which comprises approximately 100 researchers
• assisting the program spokesperson in all tasks
• being responsible for a program-wide communication system, networking and coordination activities, which ensure a structured collaboration between the program’s individual and joint projects, its governing bodies, with the marine funding line, and relevant international programs
• ensuring timely compliance with commitments and monitoring scientific progress towards the overall goals of the program.

The Program Manager’s position requires:

• an MSc or Ph.D. university degree (preferably in environmental or climate sciences)
• experience of several years in managing research projects
• very good organizational skills
• capability to work independently and in a team
• very good English skills in speech and writing.
• Good German language skills are advantageous, as is knowledge of German and international research landscape around climate and CDR.

The Program Manager will become a member of a dynamic team around research, coordination, and transfer of the CDR synthesis project and many other projects at the chair for Physical Geography and Land Use Systems. The team is strongly involved in large international collaborations such as the Global Carbon Project, AIMES, and the IPCC/CMIP6.

The position is offered from April 2022 or soon after until October 2024.

Your workplace will be located in central Munich and is easy to reach by public transport. We offer an interesting and responsible position with good opportunities for vocational training and career development.

Payment will be in accordance with TV-L E14. Part-time work is in principle possible. Handicapped persons with comparable qualifications receive preferential status. We encourage female candidates to apply.

Please send an application outlining your fit for the position (including a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, copies of scientific degrees, and the names and contact information of two references) by April 1, 2022, by e-mail (one PDF attachment with max. 5MB only including all documents) with subject “CDR-PrM-2022” to climate.jobs@geographie.uni-muenchen.de. For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Julia Pongratz (julia.pongratz@lmu.de).

PhD position at UFZ Leipzig on Model-based exploration of leverage points to foster sustainable nitrogen management in German agriculture

The POLISES group (www.polises.de) at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig, Germany, is offering a three years PhD Position on  “Model-based exploration of leverage points to foster sustainable nitrogen management in German agriculture” starting May 1, 2022 on with a methodological focus on social-ecological modelling and agent-based modelling.

The aim of the PhD project is to investigate the effects of policy measures for sustainable nitrogen management of farmers in Germany. This shall be achieved by developing an integrated model complex that makes both the socio-economic and the biophysical sides of the system explicit and thus allows the consideration of various types of policy measures as well as feedbacks within the system.

The deadline for application is March 4, 2022.

Your tasks:

• Develop an agent-based model that includes farmers’ decisions on nitrogen management under a variety of potential policy measures in a dynamic and spatially explicit manner

• Couple the agent-based model with a (simplified) biogeophysical model that simulates the effect of farmers’ nitrogen management on environmental nitrate pollution, taking into account biogeophysical and the socio-economic feedbacks

• Parametrize the coupled model with empirical data obtained from different sources

• Use the model to explore the effect of different policies to change farmers’ nitrogen management on environmental nitrogen pollution and to derive recommendations for the design of such policy measures
• Collaborate with researchers from different Thematic Areas at UFZ relevant in the given context and thereby foster cross-sectional research activity at the UFZ

Your profile:

• An excellent master’s degree in a relevant field of research, including system sciences, mathematics, physics, agricultural economics, geography, sustainability science

• Expertise in modelling and analyzing complex systems (experience in agent-based modelling is beneficial)

• Proficiency in computer programming (e.g. NetLogo, C++, Java, Python) and advanced statistical methods

• Deep interest in investigating farmer behavior and its consequences from an interdisciplinary perspective, involving sociological, economical, ecological and biogeophysical considerations

• Excellent knowledge of spoken and written English and ambition to publish in international journals

• High motivation to work in an international and interdisciplinary team

• Readiness to travel within and beyond Europe to attend conferences, workshops and courses