Post-Doktorand in Leipzig bei German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)

Reference Number 94/2024

Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/d)

‘Open-science tools for monitoring ecosystem extents’

Founded in 1409, Leipzig University is one of Germany’s largest universities and a leader in research and medical

training. With around 30,000 students and more than 5000 members of staff across 14 faculties, it is at the heart of the

vibrant and outward-looking city of Leipzig. Leipzig University offers an innovative and international working

environment as well as an exciting range of career opportunities in research, teaching, knowledge and technology

transfer, infrastructure and administration.

The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a National Research Centre

funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). It is located in the city of Leipzig and it’s a central institution of

Leipzig University. More information about iDiv: www.iDiv.de.

The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig offers the aforementioned position

024 (later start dates can be considered). Please note that this opening is still pending contract

agreement with the funder, which is expected by mid-May 2024.

Background

Changes in ecosystem extents are a key component of global environmental change with many consequences for

humans and nature. Correspondingly, many intergovernmental conventions require information on ecosystem extent

dynamics. While advances in data, modelling and computational tools promise high-quality, accessible ecosystem data,

challenges remain in data integration, processing and comparability, and in fostering ownership and trust by end-users

of ecosystem products. The World Ecosystem Extent Dynamics (WEED) project, led by an international consortium

of experts in ecosystem mapping and funded by the European Space Agency, seeks to address these challenges.

Collaborating with end-users on four continents, the project will develop a globally applicable, open-source and fully

cloud-based toolbox to enable users to generate comprehensive maps of terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystem

extents and their changes. The envisioned toolbox will support national governments and monitoring institutions with

different technical and financial capacities in their ecosystem monitoring and management needs. To develop key

components of this toolbox, we offer a two-year postdoctoral position at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity

Research (iDiv). The project is supervised by Dr Carsten Meyer (head of iDiv’s Macroecology & Society (MAS) group)

and will involve collaborations within the larger consortium, including researchers at the Vlaamse Instelling voor

Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO), the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), the International Institute for Applied

Systems Analysis (IIASA) and University of Bonn, among others.

About the position

• Fixed term of 2 years (depending on final approval of funding)

• Full-time position (part-time employment is possible)

• Planned remuneration: salary group E13 TV-L

• Place of work: Leipzig

Tasks

• Conducting research to contribute key components to the envisioned toolbox for ecosystem-extent monitoring,

incl. developing new methodological protocols and data resources while leveraging pre-existing data and tools,

with a focus on:

• developing a data-cube of analysis-ready time-series on multiple ecosystem characteristics needed to map

terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems, along with input data (remote sensing, in-situ, modelled);

incl. developing and extending protocols and computational pipelines for data assembly, harmonization

and quality-assurance (e.g. bias-corrections of remote sensing products), and integrating conflicting data

under explicit consideration of uncertainties

• developing pipelines for the validation of ecosystem-extent/-change maps with heterogeneous reference

data and for pixel-level uncertainty estimation, and applying these protocols to several national and

regional showcases

• Leading scientific publications and international conference talks on new data/methods/protocols

• Collaborating on work packages led by other consortium members, including co-authoring publications

• Contributing to the management of the project (co-organization of project meetings, annual reporting to

funders, etc.)

• Regularly participating in group-based activities (meetings, workshops) and other ac