The UFZ
The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) with its 1,100
employees has gained an excellent reputation as an international competence
centre for environmental sciences. We are part of the largest scientific
organisation in Germany, the Helmholtz association. Our mission: Our research
seeks to find a balance between social development and the long-term
protection of our natural resources.
The job
The PhD Colleg LISA with 4 Phd positions will be launched in 2023. LISA is
about exploring the multifunctionality of cultural landscapes in Germany and
to examine the effects of climate change and land use in a model-based
framework. This position (doctoral student #4) will study forest ecosystems
under climate change. The aim is to couple a forest model
with a hydrological model for regions in Germany. One challenge is to address
the different spatial and temporal scales the models are using to represent
the landscape. The PhD position will investigate different strategies to
handle these scale differences to find an efficient way of exchange water
fluxes and vegetation dynamics between the forest and hydrological model. The
doctoral thesis should address the following questions: how have droughts
altered forest dynamics and what is the impact of different forest structures
and species composition on soil moisture drought?
Your tasks
working and further developing the individual-based forest model
(FORMIND, www. formind.org) and couple it with the mesoscale Hydrological
model (mHM, mhm-ufz.org)
resolve differences in space and time between the models: developing a
regionalization concept of the coupled model system and implement an
interface between them
large-scale simulation of forest dynamics considering soil water
fluctuations
developing and implementing scenario simulations of climate change
evaluation of drought impact on multifunctional assessment of both
ecosystem and water fluxes
collaboration among the four doctoral students within the PhD college
(e.g., discussion groups, synthesis paper, joint conference attendance)
We offer
Excellent technical facilities which are without parallel
The freedom you need to bridge the difficult gap between basic research
and close to being ready for application
Work in inter-disciplinary, multinational teams
Excellent links with national and international research networks
Excellent support and optimal subject-specific and general training with
our HIGRADE graduate school
Remuneration in accordance with the TVöD public-sector pay grade 13
(65%)
Your profile
An excellent master's degree in a relevant fields of research, including
system sciences, mathematics, physics, geography
Expertise in modelling and analyzing complex systems (experience in
agent-based modelling is beneficial)
Proficiency in computer programming (e.g. C++, Python)
Deep interest in investigating the impact of climate change on forests
Excellent knowledge of spoken and written English and ambition to publish
in international journals
High motivation to work in an international and interdisciplinary team