PhD student (f/m/d) Agroforestry for sustainable multifunctional agriculture

The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as a research institute is to develop and research on solutions for an ecologically, economically and societal sustainable agriculture. ZALF is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg (approx. 40 minutes by regional train from Berlin). The institute also maintains research locations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue (Grassland Research Station).

The working group Isotope Biogeochemistry and Gas Fluxes is offering a PhD position within the DFG funded research group, Agroforestry for sustainable multifunctional agriculture (FORMULA) as part of the sub-project Greenhouse Gas Fluxes and Carbon Sequestration. Together with partners at University of Giessen, the PhD project will fulfill the task to investigate small scale spatial heterogeneity of GHG emissions (CH4, CO2, N2O and ET) within agroforestry systems. The research will be based on field experiments in Brandenburg and Hesse.

We are offering a 65% position (26 hours per week) for 4 years at our location in Müncheberg as

PhD student (f/m/d)

Your tasks:

• setup of the field site involving construction of measurement equipment using Arduino/Raspberry Pi following existing construction plans/guidance by members of the Working Group
• regular measurements of GHG emissions at the agroforestry site in Brandenburg and overseeing/crosschecking measurements at the site in Hesse
• regular field campaigns for stable isotope measurements of trees.
• estimation of tree canopy photosynthesis based on stable isotopes and sapflow
• flux calculation, gap filling and spatial data analysis
• publication of results in peer-reviewed scientific journals
• intense collaboration with fellow Phd students of other subprojects

Your qualifications:

• Master in agricultural science, geography, geosciences or related discipline
• willingness for conducting periodic field research campaigns at the agroforestry site of ZALF in Brandenburg as well as to participate in campaigns at the agroforestry site of the JLU in Hessen
• as an internationally research institution, located in Germany we require excellent written and spoken English skills and the willingness to take part in further training as part of the language courses in German offered internally
• good teamwork skills with willingness to collaborate across disciplines
• driver’s license (Class B/BE, manual)

We offer:

• an interdisciplinary working environment that encourages independence and self-reliance
• opportunity to collaborate with leading international scientists and networks in GHG research
• strong institutional commitment to a good work-life balance
• classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to EG 13 (including special annual payment)
• a collegial and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution
• company ticket
• in-house language courses in German and English

Women are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons with equal qualifications are favored. Please send your application preferably online (see button online application below). For e-mail applications, create a PDF document (one PDF file, max. 5 MB; packed PDF documents, archive files like zip, rar etc. Word documents cannot be processed and therefore cannot be considered!) with the usual documents, in particular CV, proof of qualification and certificates, stating the reference number 73-2024 until 31 August 2024 to (see button e-mail application below).

https://jobs.zalf.de/jobposting/07bc8b521bd177773a529a6816ae13fc5887078b0

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Mathias Hoffmann and PD Dr. Maren Dubbert, mathias.hoffmann(at)zalf.de and maren.dubbert(at)zalf.de

For cost reasons, application documents or extensive publications can only be returned if an adequately stamped envelope is attached. If you apply, we collect and process your personal data in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the EU GDPR only for the processing of your application and for purposes that result from possible future employment with the ZALF. Your data will be deleted after six months.