PhD in carbon mobilization in tundra ecosystems

WorkplaceAmsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Category
Position
Published
Closing Date
NL

EN

PhD in carbon mobilization in tundra ecosystems



  • VU Hoofdgebouw

  • Amsterdam

  • 0.8 / 1

  • Faculty of Science

  • PhD

  • MSc

  • Closes on

    30-08-2025

  • Publishing date

    20-06-2025




Apply

PhD-position in carbon mobilization along a terrestrial-aquatic continuum in tundra ecosystems Are you passionate about research and field work, and would you like to work in a multidisciplinary team in the field of Arctic biogeochemistry?

Your function

We invite applications for a PhD position in the10-year  EMBRACER research programme  funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). At EMBRACER we work at the very frontiers of knowledge on climate change, Earth’s climate system and climate feedbacks. Within its 10-year research programme, funded by NWO, EMBRACER brings together a wide range of world-leading climate experts with the aim to address existing uncertainties about climate feedbacks at the boundaries between oceans,Öland, ice, and atmosphere. Our interdisciplinary approach and state-of-the-art infrastructure will bring us forward in our understanding of the impact of climate feedbacks emerging over the next decades to centuries.

As part of EMBRACER you will (i) address the fate of terrestrial carbon as it is mobilized along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum in Western Greenland, (ii) quantify the size and lability of the coastal tundra carbon pool, and (iii) develop a carbon degradation kinetics model of terrestrial carbon along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum. To address these aims the PhD will use field observations and laboratory experiments to focus on a terrestrial gradient from upland tundra to coastal tundra in an area with high terrestrial-aquatic connectivity on Western Greenland.

Your duties
As a PhD candidate, your tasks will include the following:

  • Design and execute your own research plans
  • Publish results in scientific journals and present research at scientific conferences
  • Conduct field work in remote locations in Western Greenland for prolonged periods
  • Contribute to teaching and supervising bachelor and master students
  • Collaborate with project partners from similar and different fields


Your profile We seek a highly motivated student to pursue research at the interface of arctic terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemistry with the following profile:

  • A MSc degree in environmental sciences, soil sciences, biogeochemistry, hydrology or equivalent
  • Basic programming/data analyses skills in R or Python.
  • Ability to work in an interdisciplinary research team
  • Affinity to teach and supervise student projects
  • English language proficiency both in speech and writing
  • Preferably a Driving license


As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

What do we offer? A challenging position in a socially engaged organization. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

  • a salary of minimum ¤ 2.901,00 (PhD) and maximum ¤ 3.707,00 (PhD) gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile PhD candidate. The exact salary depends on your education and experience.
  • a position for at least 0.8 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. Afterwards, the intention is to extent the position for another 3-years enveloping the full PhD. 4 years of funding is secured.


We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

  • A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
  • 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
  • contribution to commuting expenses
  • hybrid working enables a good work-life balance


About us About the department
Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, offers a stimulating international research environment with world-class academic reputation, and excellent state-of-the-art facilities. Research in the department covers a wide range of fundamental and applied research topics, including climate and environmental dynamics, surface processes and landscape dynamics, earth and planetary dynamics, and sustainability, resources, and society. Our strength lies in the ability to deliver fundamental knowledge on the functioning of our planet and are key to finding sustainable solutions to many problems related to natural resources, natural hazards, energy, and the environment that societies are facing.

Faculty of Science
Researchers and students at VU Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science tackle fundamental and complex scientific problems to help pave the way for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, and from molecules to the moon: we cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. Our teaching and research have a strong experimentally technical, computational and interdisciplinary nature.

We work on new solutions guided by value-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies. We are committed to research, valorisation and training socially engaged citizens of the world who will make valuable contributions to a sustainable, healthy future.

Are you interested in joining the Faculty of Science? You will join undergraduate students, PhD candidates and researchers at the biggest sciences faculty in the Netherlands. You will combine a professional focus with a broad view of the world. We are proud of our collegial working climate, characterised by committed staff, a pragmatic attitude and engagement in the larger whole. The faculty is home to over 11,000 students enrolled in 40 study programmes. It employs over 1,600 professionals spread across 10 academic departments.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility.  Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

Interested Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application.

Interviews will take place in early October. The position will start December or as early as possible thereafter.

Applications received via email will not be considered.

For more information about the vacancy you can contact Liam Heffernan ( [email protected] ) or Jorien Vonk ( [email protected] )

Your function We invite applications for a PhD position in the10-year  EMBRACER research programme  funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). At EMBRACER we work at the very frontiers of knowledge on climate change, Earth’s climate system and climate feedbacks. Within its 10-year research programme, funded by NWO, EMBRACER brings together a wide range of world-leading climate experts with the aim to address existing uncertainties about climate feedbacks at the boundaries between oceans,Öland, ice, and atmosphere. Our interdisciplinary approach and state-of-the-art infrastructure will bring us forward in our understanding of the impact of climate feedbacks emerging over the next decades to centuries.

As part of EMBRACER you will (i) address the fate of terrestrial carbon as it is mobilized along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum in Western Greenland, (ii) quantify the size and lability of the coastal tundra carbon pool, and (iii) develop a carbon degradation kinetics model of terrestrial carbon along the terrestrial-aquatic continuum. To address these aims the PhD will use field observations and laboratory experiments to focus on a terrestrial gradient from upland tundra to coastal tundra in an area with high terrestrial-aquatic connectivity on Western Greenland.

Your duties
As a PhD candidate, your tasks will include the following:

  • Design and execute your own research plans
  • Publish results in scientific journals and present research at scientific conferences
  • Conduct field work in remote locations in Western Greenland for prolonged periods
  • Contribute to teaching and supervising bachelor and master students
  • Collaborate with project partners from similar and different fields


Your profile We seek a highly motivated student to pursue research at the interface of arctic terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemistry with the following profile:

  • A MSc degree in environmental sciences, soil sciences, biogeochemistry, hydrology or equivalent
  • Basic programming/data analyses skills in R or Python.
  • Ability to work in an interdisciplinary research team
  • Affinity to teach and supervise student projects
  • English language proficiency both in speech and writing
  • Preferably a Driving license


As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

What do we offer? A challenging position in a socially engaged organization. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

  • a salary of minimum ¤ 2.901,00 (PhD) and maximum ¤ 3.707,00 (PhD) gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile PhD candidate. The exact salary depends on your education and experience.
  • a position for at least 0.8 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. Afterwards, the intention is to extent the position for another 3-years enveloping the full PhD. 4 years of funding is secured.


We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

  • A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
  • 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
  • contribution to commuting expenses
  • hybrid working enables a good work-life balance


About us About the department
Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, offers a stimulating international research environment with world-class academic reputation, and excellent state-of-the-art facilities. Research in the department covers a wide range of fundamental and applied research topics, including climate and environmental dynamics, surface processes and landscape dynamics, earth and planetary dynamics, and sustainability, resources, and society. Our strength lies in the ability to deliver fundamental knowledge on the functioning of our planet and are key to finding sustainable solutions to many problems related to natural resources, natural hazards, energy, and the environment that societies are facing.

Faculty of Science
Researchers and students at VU Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science tackle fundamental and complex scientific problems to help pave the way for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, and from molecules to the moon: we cover the full spectrum of the natural sciences. Our teaching and research have a strong experimentally technical, computational and interdisciplinary nature.

We work on new solutions guided by value-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies. We are committed to research, valorisation and training socially engaged citizens of the world who will make valuable contributions to a sustainable, healthy future.

Are you interested in joining the Faculty of Science? You will join undergraduate students, PhD candidates and researchers at the biggest sciences faculty in the Netherlands. You will combine a professional focus with a broad view of the world. We are proud of our collegial working climate, characterised by committed staff, a pragmatic attitude and engagement in the larger whole. The faculty is home to over 11,000 students enrolled in 40 study programmes. It employs over 1,600 professionals spread across 10 academic departments.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility.  Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

#o#div# c#

Questions about the vacancy?

Please contact

Liam Heffernan

PI

0621885447

Send an email

Interested

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application.

Interviews will take place in early October. The position will start December or as early as possible thereafter.

Applications received via email will not be considered.

For more information about the vacancy you can contact Liam Heffernan ( [email protected] ) or Jorien Vonk ( [email protected] )

Questions about the vacancy?

Please contact

Liam Heffernan

PI

0621885447

Send an email

Application procedure

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