GFZ is Germany's national centre for solid Earth research. We advance the understanding of dynamic processes to address global challenges, from mitigating the impacts of natural hazards and sustaining our habitat amid global change to responsibly managing georesources. We are part of the Helmholtz Association, the largest German scientific organisation. With around 1,200 employees as well as ca. 500 guest researchers, we contribute to the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment, aligning cutting-edge research with societal relevance and international collaboration. Our work integrates multidisciplinary studies across Earth's system components, leveraging advanced technologies and infrastructure to research solutions and to transfer our knowledge to society. We are doing this according to our vision: “Taking the pulse of our Earth to safeguard a habitable planet”.
Postdoctoral researcher (f_m_x) - Terrestrial hydrogravimetry
Reference Number 10480
Terrestrial gravimetry has gained increasing visibility and importance in Earth sciences in the last decade, with extended and new applications in a broad field of topics. Besides traditional gravimeters, quantum gravimeters have evolved as a new type of instrument with a future-oriented technology and a broad application range.
The EU-Horizon funded project “EQUIP-G” will set up a prototype infrastructure of terrestrial quantum gravimeters in Europe. Besides metrological evaluations and the development of an EU-wide pool of quantum gravimeters, numerous use cases will be carried out, addressing relevant problems in the fields of hydrology, volcanology, climatology, geothermal energy and geodesy. These use cases will serve as a proof-of-concept of this new technology and demonstrate its added value for geoscientific applications. GFZ section hydrology will organise and lead 2 of 8 planned use cases within EQUIP-G and support the others in terms of equipment, measurements and data processing. Furthermore, this project will build and foster an EU-wide community around instrument and data infrastructures for terrestrial (quantum) gravimetry.
Your responsibilities:
- Operate quantum gravimeters, including data processing and evaluation
- Conduct hydrogravimetric surveys and field measurements
- Hydrogravitational modeling of near-surface processes
- Processing and analysis of gravity network measurements
- Inverse modelling of electric resistivity tomography (ERT) observations
- Plan and conduct an artificial sprinkling experiment for months-long outdoor measurements
- Active contribution to EQUIP-G project activities and collaborations
- Present results at international conferences and publish in highly-ranked international journals
Your qualifications:
- A Master`s degree or equivalent and a PhD in geodesy, geophysics, geosciences or a related discipline
- Solid background in geodetic or geophysical methods
- Experience with terrestrial gravimetry (processing, modelling and/or measurements)
- Proven experience with modelling of environmental processes
- Understanding of hydrological processes and systems is an asset
- Excellent programming skills in Python
- Experience with Git and Linux is an asset
- Ability to work independently, and excellent organisational and problem-solving skills
- Ability for and willingness to work in a multidisciplinary team and to actively communicate and cooperate with collaborators
- Proficiency in spoken and written English
- Willingness for field work up to a duration of 3 weeks per trip
- Driving license
What we offer:
- Ambitious and varied tasks in a dynamic and international research environment
- State-of-the-art equipment
- Public service benefits
- Extensive training opportunities
- Professional career advice offered by our in-house Career-Centre
- Flexible working hours and conditions
- Support with finding a good work-life balance offered by benefit@work
- Institute day-care centre on site
- Working at the Albert Einstein science park on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam
- Work place within walking distance of Potsdam main train station, or just a short ride on the shuttle bus
Fixed-term: 36 months (100% working hours) or 48 months (75% working hours)
Salary: The position is classed as salary group 13 according to “TVöD Bund (Tarifgebiet Ost)”. The salary group is determined on the basis of the Collective Wage Agreement and the respective personal qualifications.
Working hours: Full-time (currently 39 h/week), the position is generally suitable for part-time work.
Place of work: Potsdam
Have we piqued your interest?
The GFZ actively promotes diversity and explicitly welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of ethnic and social origin, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and identity, religion/belief, age and physical characteristics. We also promote an inclusive working environment in which everyone can fully develop their own talents. Anyone who has been recognised as severely disabled, will be given preferential consideration in the event of equal suitability and qualification in accordance with the provisions of the German Social Code IX. In case of further queries regarding gender equality, please do not hesitate to contact our Equal Opportunities Officer.
“Diversity in perspectives” is one of GFZ's core values. As an integral part of supporting diversity at our centre, we actively promote women in science and in leadership positions. We among others do this through our gender equality plan and the cascade model measures which we actively implement to enable sustainable equal opportunities in academic career paths. The GFZ thus committedly strives for gender equality in science, including in leadership positions, and strongly encourages women to apply.
Your personal data will be processed for the purpose of conducting the selection procedure on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 b, Art. 88 GDPR in conjunction with Art. 26 of the Data Protection Act for the State of Brandenburg. After completion of the procedure, application documents will be deleted in compliance with data protection regulations.
