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”.

In Section 4.7 “Earth Surface Process Modelling” (Department 4 “Geosystems”), we are looking for a:

The Critical Zone (CZ) is the thin layer between the upper surface of unweathered rock (i.e., bedrock) and the vegetation's upper boundary, where snow, rock, soil, water, air, and organisms interact. This vital ecosystem functions as Earth's "skin", supporting the diverse biological communities that contribute to the health and sustainability of our planet. This position is part of the new innovation pool project (DT4CZ: Digital Twins for Critical Zone under Climate Changes) funded by the Helmholtz Association. We seek a candidate to build digital twins of the critical zone within catchment scales and assess how anthropogenic climate change impacts the critical zone, especially in cold and alpine regions. We will focus on two sites: Svalbard, Norway, and Illgraben, Switzerland. 

The position will be supervised by Dr. Hui Tang from the Earth Surface Process Modelling section at the GFZ. The candidate will also work with partners from the Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI, Prof. Dr. Julia Boike), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ, Dr. Christian Klassert), and the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences: Agrosphere at Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ, Daniel Caviedes Voullieme). 

Your responsibilities:

• Develop and use coupled numerical models to interpret in-situ and remote sensing data from cold and alpine regions
• Use the model to study how climate extremes affect the hydrological and geomorphological response of critical zones
• Further develop the models as needed to test and validate these concepts and scenarios
• Collaborate with other members of the DT4CZ project from AWI, UFZ and JSC (The Jülich Supercomputing Centre at Forschungszentrum Jülich)
• Interact with other members of the Earth Surface Process Modelling Section at weekly group meetings and in other informal ways
• Present results at scientific meetings and in publications in peer-reviewed journals
• Supervise PhD and Masters students

Your qualifications:

• Master`s degree (or equivalent) and a PhD in Earth Sciences, Physics or Mathematics, with evidence of excellence in guided research
• Demonstrated knowledge (and preferably research experience) in geophysics, hydrology, or quantitative geomorphology or geography
• Experience in developing and using numerical models
• Ability to use a programming language such as Python, MATLAB, C, C++ or Fortran
• Experience in machine learning and data sciences
• Proven ability to work in a collaborative and multi-disciplinary environment
• Creativity and critical thinking skills and the ability to publish, as demonstrated by a record of original and innovative publications (preprints will be considered)
• Capacity for international teamwork and excellent communication skills
• Proficiency in spoken and written English