PhD candidate in agroforestry (all genders welcome) in the collaborative research project Chances and hurdles for the establishment and performance of different agroforestry systems in Lower Saxony – ELAN, funded by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of Lower Saxony, Germany.
The position is for 3 years and will be filled as soon as possible. The salary is in accordance with the German public service salary scale, E13 TV-L with 65 percent.
Background: Despite the benefits of agroforestry and efforts to remove legal barriers to its establishment, the introduction of agroforestry in Lower Saxony has been slow. The ELAN project will explore why this is the case and which possible innovative solutions can contribute to an increased establishment of agroforestry systems in Lower Saxony.
Your tasks
- Research works on assessing ecosystem functions of different agroforestry systems, including alley-cropping of short rotation coppice and annual crops.
- Quantification of different ecosystem function (crop yield, tree/shrub net primary production, soil nutrient availability, greenhouse gas emissions) of the agroforestry and reference systems.
- Organisation and implementation of field works on the participating farms and laboratory works.
- Analysis of collected data.
- Publication of the scientific results in peer-reviewed journals as well as presentation at national and international scientific conferences and practical seminars.
- Collaboration (i.e. sharing data and synchronizing field works) with other subprojects of ELAN.
Your Profile:
- Master’s degree in soil science, geo-ecology, environmental
- sciences, forestry, agriculture or related discipline
- Research focus on ecosystem nutrient fluxes and availability
- Good knowledge of ecological statistics (using R)
- Interest to collaborate with other researchers in this interdisciplinary project
- Enthusiasm for research in the field of integrative and interdisciplinary land use sciences
- Proficiency in English; German knowledge will be an advantage
- Driving license (Class B)
The position should serve the qualification of young academics and offers the possibility of PhD. The University of Goettingen is an equal opportunity employer and places particular emphasis on fostering career opportunities for women. Qualified women are therefore strongly encouraged to apply in fields in which they are underrepresented.
The university has committed itself to being a family-friendly institution and supports their employees in balancing work and family life. The mission of the University is to employ a greater number of severely disabled persons. Applications from severely disabled persons with equivalent qualifications will be given preference.
Please send your application with a letter of motivation, CV with copies of certificates and contacts of references in electronic form as a single pdf file by April 1, 2023 to pts@forst.uni-goettingen.de. If you have any questions, please contact Prof Dr. Edzo Veldkamp: eveldka@gwdg.de. Information about the Soil Science (PTS) group can be found at http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/67070.html.
Contact:
Sonja Gerke pts@forst.uni-goettingen.de
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Ökopedologie der Tropen und Subtropen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen