Academic Staff Member bei Universität Potsdam

Job Announcement

The University of Potsdam was founded in 1991 and has firmly established itself within the scientific landscape
and developed into an outstanding economic factor and growth engine for the region. The university excels in
acquiring third-party funds, has received multiple teaching awards, has a very service-oriented administration, and
has been honored several times for its family-friendly culture. About 21,000 students and 3,000 employees study
and work at three campuses – Am Neuen Palais, Griebnitzsee and Golm – at one of Germany’s most scenic
institutions of higher education.

The University of Potsdam, Faculty of Science, Institute of Geosciences invites applica-
tions for the following position subject to funding approval:

Academic Staff Member (f/m/d)
PhD Position

Requisition No.: 338/2024

Earliest start of the project is October 1st, 2024 and the position is funded for three years.
The successful candidate will work 40 hours per week (100 %).

Your Field of Work:
The PhD position “Rates of landscape evolution in the Central Andes” is available from Oc-
tober 01, 2024 within the framework of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral
Network for Climate-Tectonics Interactions using Big Data informed Models (INITI-
ATE, https://www.initiate-dn.eu/). The salary is competitive and determined by the EU living
allowance (approx. 40.000 € annual salary in Germany) plus an additional mobility allowance
and family allowance if applicable. This is a temporary position for three years. The fixed
term of employment is in accordance with Section 2 subsection 2 of the German Act on
Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Science and Academia (Wissenschaftszeitver-
tragsgesetz or WissZeitVG).

The goal of the project is to understand intramontane basin formation and landscape evolu-
tion in the eastern Central Andean Plateau and Eastern Cordillera during the Late Quater-
nary. This project will build chronologies from sedimentary deposits based on surface-
exposure and burial dating near the drainage divide of the Central Andean Plateau to better
understand erosion and sediment-transport processes. Specific focus is put on identifying the
impact of large and long-lasting river-damming events such as landslides. This area provides
important georesources and links the mineral-rich central Andes with the Andean foreland.
We use field mapping, digital elevation data for sediment-routing analysis, digital photog-
raphy for determining grain sizes and sedimentary characteristics, and multiple cosmogenic
nuclides to constrain dates and paleo-erosion rates. This project is closely linked with struc-
tural geologic studies and numerical basin modeling work.

Your Qualifications:
The applicant should hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in geosciences, (geo-)chemistry,
physical geography, or related discipline and have a strong interest in geochemistry and de-
ciphering landscape evolution. Knowledge in cosmogenic nuclide dating and chemical labor-
atory experience will be ideal. Proficiency in English is necessary and German-language
knowledge will help, but is not a requirement.

Importantly, the applicant should meet the following EU-defined eligibility criteria: (1) All re-
searchers recruited in a Doctoral Network must be Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs; i.e., be
in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and
have not been awarded a doctoral degree); (2) Researchers can be of any nationality; (3)
Mobility Rule: at the time of recruitment by the host organisation, researchers must not have
resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host or-
ganisation (in this case: Germany) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior
to the hiring date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not
taken into account. The mobility rule is only determined at the time of the fellow’s first re-
cruitment in the project.

What We Offer:
As a university, we combine the strong potential for development of a teaching and research
institution with the attractive working conditions of the public sector. The University of
Potsdam is a reliable employer that supports its employees with a variety of offers and
benefits:

Make the most of the various continuing education and networking opportunities offered
by the University of Potsdam to refine your subject-specific and interdisciplinary
competencies for professional as well as personal growth.

All campuses have good transport c