Postdoc: Defining Postglacial States and Variability of Terrestrial Biosphere

Join us and work with an interdisciplinary group of scientists in the Horizon Europe project 'Past to future: Towards fully paleo-informed future climate projections'.

Your job

Using pollen data, held mainly in the Neotoma database, your task will be to analyse the response of the terrestrial biosphere to rapid and slow climate change during the last 16,000 years. Using information from pollen and macrofossil remains, you will map the position of the tree line through time to test the validity of simulated vegetation responses from land surface models.

In another work package, you will compile and analyse charcoal records from the boreal biome of the northern hemisphere to determine frequency, severity, and synchronicity of wildfires between sites, and compare these with fire proxies in Greenland ice cores.

Your qualities

We look forward to your application if you have the following qualifications:

• a PhD in earth or environmental sciences, or a related field such as environmental archaeology or forestry;
• understanding of late Quaternary vegetation, fire or climate history;
• experience with compiling and analysing large datasets using programming languages such as R or Python;
• an interest in vegetation history or long-term forest dynamics;
• interested in interactions with vegetation and climate modellers, and archaeologists;
• good at working in a team;
• excellent spoken and written English skills.

Our offer

We offer:

• a position for one year, with an extension to a total of three years upon a successful assessment in the first year;
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €3,345 and €5,278 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 10 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

About us

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

Utrecht University’s Faculty of Geosciences studies the Earth: from the Earth’s core to its surface, including man’s spatial and material utilisation of the Earth – always with a focus on sustainability and innovation. With 3,400 students (BSc and MSc) and 720 staff, the faculty is a strong and challenging organisation. The Faculty of Geosciences is organised in four Departments: Earth Sciences, Human Geography & Spatial Planning, Physical Geography, and Sustainable Development.

The team of the department of Physical Geography excels in research and education on BSc, MSc and PhD level. We research processes, patterns and dynamics of Earth’s systems from the mountains to the sea, and the interaction in between. This knowledge is essential for the sustainable management of our planet and to guarantee the availability of resources for the next generations. We are a lively department that hosts an active early career community (PhD candidates, researchers and lecturers). We organise a warm welcome for every new member.

More information

For more information, please contact Dr Thomas Giesecke via t.giesecke@uu.nl.

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.

Apply now

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute.

To apply, please send your curriculum vitae, including a letter of motivation, via the ‘apply now’ button.

The interviews are on 10 or 12 February 2025. The first round can be online via MS Teams. Preferred starting date will be as soon as possible after 1 March 2025.

The application deadline is 20 January 2025.