Requirements at a glance

Master or equivalent degree (Required)
Soil and biogeochemical processes (Required)
Laboratory chemical analysis (Required)
Fieldwork in high mountains (Required)
Data analysis and statistics (Required)
R or Python (Preferred)
English (Required)
Scientific experiment design (Preferred)
Spanish (Preferred)

RequiredPreferred

Today

Technische Universität Berlin Faculty VI - Planning Building Environment, Institute of Ecology / Soil Science

Research Assistant - 0.75 working-time

About us

We are seeking a research-oriented and highly motivated individual with a strong enthusiasm for both merging fieldwork under challenging conditions with precise laboratory work in the DFG-funded project “Carbon balances as a function of the bofedales pastoralist system in the tropical high Andes (CarBotAs).” The project aims to improve our understanding of the complex interactions between energy and water cycles and carbon sequestration and storage (in biomass and soils) within the bofedales-based pastoral system of the Peruvian high Andes. Specifically, we seek to investigate how ecosystem primary productivity, as influenced by water availability, management practices, and grazing intensity, interacts with the overall carbon cycle in these high-altitude wetland ecosystems. The project is a collaboration between climatology and soil science and combines field sampling in Peru with laboratory analyses at TU Berlin. Field campaigns in Peru will be conducted in close cooperation with local partners and universities.

Your research will focus on the coupling between soil carbon storage, greenhouse gas fluxes, and biomass production as a function of water availability. The objective is to better understand how microclimate and the allocation of organic matter between above- and belowground biomass influence carbon fluxes and storage. Ideally, you have experience with plant-soil system and incubation experiments, physical soil fractionation, and the analysis of soil organic matter, and are eager to contribute your expertise to this interdisciplinary research project.

As a Research Associate in the Soil Science Group (Prof. Dr. Carsten Müller) within the Institute of Ecology at TU Berlin, we will support your professional development and if applicable doctoral studies through an excellent scientific environment, hands-on project experience, international scientific networking, regular supervision, targeted training in research skills, and support for your long-term career development.