PhD Researcher (m/f/x) "Drivers and Impacts of Soil Hot Extremes"

Place of work

Leipzig, mobile working partially possible

Working time

65%, 25,35 hrs/week

Contract limitations

limited contract / 3 years

Salary

Remuneration according to the TVöD public-sector up to pay grade 13 including attractive public-sector social security benefits.

Contact

Your contact for any questions you may have about the job:
Dr. phil. Almudena García García
almudena.garcia-garcia@ufz.de

Your application

Please submit your application via our online portal with your cover letter, CV (please omit your photo, age, or marital status) and relevant attachments.

Diversity and Inclusion

The UFZ has a strong commitment to diversity and actively supports equal opportunities for all employees regardless of their origin, religion, ideology, disability, age or sexual identity.
We look forward to applications from people who are open-minded and enjoy working in diverse teams.

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

As part of the HotSOILs project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), we are offering this PhD position to join an international research team in the Remote Sensing Department at UFZ. The department specializes in the production and analysis of remote sensing datasets to investigate changes in hydrology and vegetation, both as consequences of extreme events and as drivers of such conditions. We work with remote sensing data at a variety of scales, from local areas in Germany (a few meters) to global coverage (kilometres scales). The position is closely linked to Leipzig University.

The PhD project focuses on “Drivers and Impacts of Extreme Soil Temperatures” and will investigate the rapid increase in extreme soil temperatures and their environmental drivers across Germany and Europe. The position combines machine learning, data analysis, and environmental and climate sciences. The project involves the creation of a unique soil temperature dataset for Europe, utilizing diverse data sources and modeling frameworks, and collaborating with both national and international researchers. The successful candidate will also have opportunities to present their work at international conferences. The PhD researcher will benefit from the support of a young supervisor with extensive experience in the field, as well as from the interdisciplinary expertise of the Remote Sensing team.

Your tasks

The successful candidate will:

• Produce a soil temperature dataset over Europe by training machine learning models with in situ measurements and remote sensing products.
• Evaluate the evolution of soil hot extremes and its drivers in forests and grasslands based on the dataset produced.
• Assess the contribution of soil hot extremes to vegetation declines over Germany and Europe.

We offer

• Excellent supervision and optimal professional and interdisciplinary qualification through our HIGRADE graduate programme
• The freedom to master even the most demanding challenges between basic research and practical application
• The opportunity to work in interdisciplinary, international teams and benefit from a wide range of perspectives
• Firstclass integration into national and international research networks to work together on global challenges
• Excellent research infrastructure and research data management to optimally support your work
• A wide range of options for balancing care responsibilities and work through our family office
• Competent support and advice for international colleagues arriving at the UFZ from the ‘International Office’
• Special annual payment, capital-forming benefits and subsidised Deutschland-Job-Ticket
• A workplace in a vibrant region with a high life quality and social and cultural diversity

Your profile

• A master’s degree in Environmental Sciences, Earth Sciences, Physical Geography, Computational Sciences or any related discipline.
• Experience applying general-purpose or specialized programming languages (e.g. Python, Julia, R or Bash).
• Knowledge on extreme events, hydrology and climate.
• Experience in training and evaluating machine learning models is beneficial.
• Experience in working at HPCs or Linux systems is beneficial but not a prerequisite.
• Capability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary, international team.
• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.

Application deadline: 05.04.2026

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