The University of Potsdam is seeking to fill the following position:
Academic Staff Member (PhD Student: Early Stage Researcher (ESR). In the frame of an Initial Training Network: Investigating Tectonism-Erosion-Climate-Couplings (iTECC)
Salary will be commensurate with a Marie-Curie ESR position.
Aims of the Project: Monsoonal variability and erosional processes on decadal to millennial timescales control the impact of climate variability on glacial, fluvial, landslide- and debris-flow erosion on different time scales in the NW Himalaya, a transitional area between the summer monsoon and westerly precipitation regimes. The present day moisture transport will be determined from remotely sensed rainfall, snow-cover and glacial velocity data as well as gauging station runoff, with data and skills training provided by Associate Partner InfoTerra. The PhD student will combine the analysis of remotely sensed data on moisture transport with water and lipid biomarker stable isotope analysis to constrain organic matter sources and to decipher transport and erosive processes within a large fluvial catchment in the Indian Himalaya. By using sedimentological archives (river terrace sediments, lake sediments) the PhD student will reconstruct changes in these processes over time and relate them to monsoonal variability during the Holocene.
If possible, employment in this position shall begin by 01.07.2013. The hours of work per week for the position amount to 40 hours. The post is a fixed-term employment contract for 3 years. We offer highly competitive gross monthly living and mobility allowances depending on family status in accordance to the PEOPLE Work Programme 2012 (European Commission C (2011) 5033 of 19 July 2011).
Requirements:
Work includes analysis of remote sensing datasets and biomarker identification and compound-specific stable isotope measurements on biomarkers extracted from plants, soils and sediments. Part of the work will also involve fieldwork in the Himalayas, method development and proxy calibration and include cooperation over the traditional boundaries between the geo- and biosciences.
We are seeking applications from highly motivated individuals with a strong interdisciplinary background in biogeology, organic geochemistry and biogeochemistry. Experience with GIS data evaluation and Laboratory experience with wet-chemical methods for lipid extraction from soils, sediments and/or plant material is desirable as well as the use of GC-MS/GC-FID for compound identification. Experience with GC-IRMS coupling for compound-specific stable isotope measurement would be a plus.
•Fluency in the English language (speaking and writing) is essential.
•Applicants must be researchers who have not yet been awarded the doctorate degree and are in the first 4 years (full-time equivalent) of their research careers. This includes the period of research training, starting at the date of obtaining the degree which would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate either in the country in which the degree was obtained, irrespective whether or not a doctorate is envisaged.
•Applicants may not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc…) in Germany for more than 12 months in the last 3 years. Short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.
Handicapped applicants will be given preference in case of equal suitability. The University of Potsdam strives to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and specifically encourages female applicants to apply for this position.
Please send your application, one single pdf-file, at the latest by 15.05.2013 (Interview Period: early June 2013) to Prof. Manfred Strecker and Dr. Dirk Sachse of the University of Potsdam by e-mail [Manfred.Strecker@geo.uni-potsdam.de and Dirk.Sachse@geo.uni-potsdam.de]. Direct inquiries to the same email addresses.
The application should contain:
•Cover letter outlining the motivation and qualification for the project position
•Curriculum vitae (CV)
•List of publications (if available)
•Copies of university degree(s) and school certificates
•Letters of reference (optional)
About Potsdam university: Founded in 1991, the University of Potsdam is the largest institute of higher learning in the federal state of Brandenburg. The university is located in one of the most beautiful settings for an academic institution in Germany. It is developing into an important address for modern research and teaching and for an intensified transfer of technology and knowledge. Approximately 21,000 young people study in five faculties over three campuses, Am Neuen Palais, Babelsberg, and Golm. The University of Potsdam has around 2,450 faculty and staff members.