The Biogeophysics group of the University of Hohenheim is seeking a highly motivated PostDoc for a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, subject to final project approval. We offer a full-time contract (100 %, 36 months), starting March, 1st 2023. Remuneration is at E 13 TV-L (German public service salary scale). In the project „Climate adapted ground water management by use of real-time planning instruments and model future scenarios (GW 4.0)” the Biogeophysics working group at University of Hohenheim (Prof Streck) and the Soil Science working group at the University of Kassel (Prof Weber), together with industry partners and the Hydrogeology working group (University of Tübingen), will develop tools for model-based analyses of ground water quantity and quality.
The aim is to reduce potential water use conflicts by aiding short- and long-term planning securing sustainable water availability for households, industry, ecology, recreation and the agricultural sector. The Biogeophysics and Soil Science working groups specialise in high-performance computing and spatially gridded simulations of the soil-plant system. Their role in the project is to quantify future water requirements of field crops under irrigation. Decadal scale analyses will consider climate change and viable policy intervention scenarios. To reduce in-season prediction uncertainty, data will be assimilated.
This project will make an important contribution in developing tools to secure clean groundwater resources and to analyse the quantitative needs of the multiple stakeholders. As an employee of the University of Hohenheim you will (a) be offered an interesting and diverse range of tasks within the framework of a modern and ambitious university, (b) be part of an interdisciplinary team with a good and collegial working atmosphere, (c) work on Tier-2 High-Performance Computing infrastructure of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, and (d) have the opportunity to take professional and interdisciplinary training courses.
Your tasks:
As part of the project ‘GW 4.0’, you will work in an energetic and experienced team of agro-ecosystem modellers using the crop modelling software Expert-N. On a regular basis, you will engage closely with researchers from the project consortium, including the Soil Science department of the University of Kassel. You will parameterise the crop model based on heterogeneous observations and expert knowledge (plausibility) using high-performance computing resources (HoreKa).
You will simulate different irrigation strategies of crop rotations to quantify agricultural water use. Besides, your activities will include the scientific evaluation of new findings and the development of new methods in the above-mentioned areas, documentation of codes including collaborative versioning, the writing of scientific publications, and model benchmarking. We expect independently organised and agile project work in the research network.
Your profile:
- A doctorate in Agricultural Sciences, Physics, Meteorology, Geoecology, Environmental Sciences or a closely related subject completed
- Documented experience in process modelling of dynamic plant growth or land surface modelling, as well as in the methods of model-data integration
- Familiarity with irrigation management is an assetExperience in Bayesian Statistics is an advantageKnowledge of scripting languages such as R or Python as well as programming skills with C or a comparable programming language are a distinct advantage.
- A secure knowledge of spoken and written English is required and a knowledge of German or willingness to learn German is an advantage.
- Publications in peer-reviewed journals with at least two first authorships, are expected.
- Strong organisational and communication skills complete your profile.
Your workplace will be at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart. The university hosts Germany’s largest and most reputed agricultural faculty and is located in a baroque palace with a beautiful campus.
For questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Thilo Streck (tstreck@uni-hohenheim.de) or Prof. Dr. Tobias KD Weber (tobias.weber@uni-kassel.de).
Application deadline : 17.02.2023
Please attach the following documents to your application: Letter of motivation, your CV, a current list of publications, indicating the most relevant three, as well as references and any certificates you may have.
The University of Hohenheim accepts applications via a secure internet site. To the application