Location: Luxembourg

Start Date: Between September and December 2025
Program Duration: 4 years
Funding: Fully funded with competitive benefits

Why This PhD Research Matters

Forests play a critical role as carbon sinks, but their carbon storage capacity is under increasing threat due to droughts, tree mortality, and ecosystem degradation. While carbon uptake by forests is widely researched, carbon export via runoff—especially in the form of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and CO₂—remains less understood.

This PhD project aims to:

• Quantify and trace carbon fluxes under drought conditions in forest ecosystems
• Improve the accuracy of carbon budgeting models
• Contribute essential data to global climate models and climate adaptation strategies

What You’ll Do as a PhD Researcher

As part of an international, interdisciplinary research team, your core responsibilities will include:

Investigating biogeochemical carbon fluxes in headwater forest catchments
Using radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating and isotopic tracing (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) to identify carbon sources
Working on a live drought simulation at the Weierbach experimental catchment
Managing field sensors for DOC and dissolved CO₂ monitoring
Conducting water sampling and laboratory analyses
Modeling carbon transport and turnover using field and lab data
Collaborating with international partners in Sweden (SWE), France (INRAE), and the University of Luxembourg

This project is ideal for candidates who enjoy a mix of fieldwork, lab analysis, and computational modeling.

Who Should Apply?

This opportunity is perfect for candidates who are motivated to solve real-world environmental challenges and work on climate change mitigation strategies.

Minimum Qualifications:

• MSc in Hydrology, Environmental Science, Soil Science, or related fields
• Strong interest in carbon and water cycles
• Experience in field research and laboratory work
• Basic programming skills (preferably in R or Python)
• Excellent communication and teamwork abilities
• Valid B driving license
• C1 English proficiency (written and spoken)
• Willingness to work in an international, multidisciplinary research environment

Why Choose LIST?

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology is a world-class Research and Technology Organization (RTO). It provides a dynamic and inclusive environment with state-of-the-art research facilities and international collaboration opportunities.

Benefits Include:

• Competitive fully funded PhD package
• 32 days annual leave
• 13-month salary structure
• Public healthcare coverage
• Meal vouchers
• Flexible working hours and hybrid work options
• Diversity-friendly workplace (over 50 nationalities represented)
• Mentorship and professional development programs
• Family- and female-friendly work environment

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online. Email applications will not be accepted.

Required Documents:

• A tailored motivation letter for this PhD position
• Scientific CV with up-to-date contact details
• List of publications and/or patents (if applicable)
• Contact details of two academic referees

Submit Your Application Here (Insert the official application link)

Note: Admission to the University of Luxembourg requires official diploma recognition and a small semester fee (~€200).

About the FORFUS Doctoral Training Unit

This PhD is one of 13 prestigious positions within the FORFUS DTU, which focuses on:

• Below-ground carbon and nutrient processes
• Tree and canopy physiological responses
• Remote sensing and ecosystem monitoring
• Predicting forest function under climate stress

As a PhD researcher, you’ll collaborate closely with postdocs, senior scientists, and fellow doctoral candidates tackling the urgent environmental issues affecting European forests.

Be Part of Climate Solutions

If you’re ready to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time—climate change and forest ecosystem sustainability—this PhD opportunity is for you.

Join a world-class research team and make a lasting impact on carbon modeling, hydrology, and environmental policy.

Apply now and start your journey toward scientific excellence and global sustainability.

About the PhD Opportunity

The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena invites applications for a fully funded PhD position in Atmospheric Carbon Flux Partitioning. This prestigious opportunity is part of the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) project—a major international collaboration between Germany and Brazil dedicated to understanding carbon dynamics in the Amazon rainforest.

This doctoral project focuses on top-down partitioning of Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) at regional scales using advanced atmospheric transport inversion methods, particularly the CarboScope Regional Inversion System.

Key Research Questions

• What drives seasonal variability in carbon fluxes—photosynthesis (GPP) or respiration (TER)?
• How can the ATTO tower’s observational footprint enhance regional carbon balance models?
• What insights can be drawn from nighttime CO₂ mole fraction data?

The research involves integrating high-resolution atmospheric data with biosphere models to analyze the biosphere-atmosphere carbon exchange in the Amazon region.

Your Role as a PhD Researcher

As a PhD candidate, you will:

• Enhance nocturnal boundary layer models using site-specific meteorological data
• Implement the Vegetation Photosynthesis and Respiration Model (VPRM) to estimate a priori fluxes
• Optimize and extend the Jena CarboScope inversion framework
• Validate model outputs using independent datasets such as 13C-CO₂ isotopes and ecosystem simulations
• Work closely with leading international experts from Germany and Brazil

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants should have:

• A Master’s degree in geosciences, environmental sciences, physics, or atmospheric sciences
• Strong analytical background in statistics, mathematics, and carbon cycle research
• Programming skills in languages such as Python or Julia
• Interest in biosphere modeling and atmospheric transport systems
• Excellent command of English (spoken and written)
• A passion for climate science and ecosystem research

Why Join This Program?

• Fully funded PhD position under the German TVöD Bund salary scheme
• Involvement in the elite BMBF-funded ATTO-Synthesis project
• Collaboration with world-class researchers from the BSAT and ATM groups at MPI
• Access to cutting-edge modeling tools and global atmospheric data sets
• Supportive, diverse, and interdisciplinary research environment

How to Apply

Submit the following as a single PDF (max 10 MB) to: bewerbung@bgc-jena.mpg.de

• Cover Letter
• Curriculum Vitae
• Contact details of two academic referees

Subject/Reference: PhD Position 2 – Reference 12/2025
Deadline: June 20, 2025

Mailing Address (if required):
Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie
Personalbüro: Kennwort „PhD position 2”
Hans-Knöll-Straße 10, 07745 Jena, Germany

Note: Documents will be destroyed post-selection per GDPR rules. Please avoid sending original papers or folders.

Contact for More Information

• Project Lead: Dr. Santiago Botía
• Collaborator: Dr. Christoph Gerbig
• Email: szaehle@bgc-jena.mpg.de
• Official Website: www.attoproject.org

Boost Your Research Career in Climate Science

This is a rare opportunity to contribute to one of the most significant environmental projects of our time. Help decode the carbon flux puzzle of the Amazon while advancing your academic and research career at one of the world’s most respected institutes.

Apply by June 20, 2025, and become a part of cutting-edge climate science in Germany!