PhD position (f_m_x) - Developing Isotope Proxies for Enhanced Weathering - RESET

European Commission; Deutschland; Vor Ort; EUR 60.000 - 80.000; Teilzeit

Zusammenfassung

A leading research center in Potsdam is seeking a motivated PhD student to lead inorganic geochemical aspects of the RESET project, focusing on CO2 removal techniques through Enhanced Weathering. The role includes generating geochemical data, collaborating with other researchers, and requires an MSc in a relevant field. This position offers extensive training opportunities and is part-time with a flexible work environment.

Leistungen

Public service benefits

Flexible working hours

Extensive training opportunities

Qualifikationen

• MSc in a geoscience-relevant field, and curiosity about CO2 removal techniques.
• Past experience with relevant topics or techniques is a distinct advantage.

Aufgaben

• Generating high-quality inorganic geochemical data via clean room processing.
• Integrating results into geochemical mass-balance frameworks.
• Planning and conducting fieldwork within Germany.

Kenntnisse

Strong numerical skills

Fluency in written and spoken English

Experience with scientific programming languages

Ausbildung

MSc in a geoscience-relevant field

Tools

ICP-MS

Python

Matlab

Jobbeschreibung

Organisation/Company GFZ Helmholtz-Zentrum für Geoforschung Research Field Geosciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Country Germany Application Deadline 15 Sep 2025 - 21:59 (UTC) Type of Contract To be defined Job Status Other Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Area of research:

Promotion

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”.

For section 3.2 Organic and Earth Surface Geochemistry (department “Geochemistry”), we are looking for a: Reference Number 10624

– The position is dependent on the approval of the project. –

This position is part of the RESET project , where we investigate the impacts of Enhanced Weathering on soil organic carbon, develop inorganic geochemical proxies, and identify social and governance pathways towards large-scale deployment, in three interlinked PhD positions.

Enhanced Silicate Weathering (ESW) promises to achieve large volume CO2 removal (CDR) with millennium-scale storage and at competitive cost by distributing finely ground reactive (ultra)mafic minerals on agricultural soils. Within the framework of the BMFTR-funded consortium CDRTerra, our project (RESET: Developing Roadmaps to Scalable Carbon Dioxide Removal by Enhanced Silicate Weathering) seeks to identify the potential and challenges of the large-scale deployment of ESW for durable CO2 removal.

We are looking for a motivated PhD student to lead the inorganic geochemical aspects of the project, which will include processing and interpreting metal concentrations and isotope ratios from experiments and field deployments. You will also work closely with organic geochemists and social scientists to gain a holistic view of the impacts and potential of ESW and CDR in general.

Your responsibilities:

• Generating high-quality inorganic geochemical data via clean room processing and purification of samples, and analysis by (multi-collector) ICP-MS
• Integrating results into geochemical mass-balance frameworks
• Staying up-to-date on scientific literature in the field of (Enhanced) Weathering
• Planning and conducting fieldwork within Germany
• Preparation and publication of manuscripts detailing results in appropriate peer-reviewed journals; data management and archiving according to FAIR principles; presentation of results at national and international conferences
• MSc in a geoscience-relevant field, and curiosity and desire to become an expert in CO2 removal techniques
• Strong numerical skills and ideally experience with a scientific programming language (e.g. Python, Matlab, etc).
• Fluency in written and spoken English; German is an advantage, but not required
• Past experience with one or more of the relevant topics (e.g. CDR, weathering or enhanced weathering, isotope geochemistry, etc.) and/or techniques (clean-laboratory work, isotope ratio measurements, geochemical mass-balance, etc.) is a distinct advantage

What we offer:

• Ambitious and varied tasks in a dynamic and international research environment
• Public service benefits
• Extensive training opportunities
• Professional career advice offered by our in-house Career-Centre
• Flexible working hours and conditions
• Support with finding a good work-life balance offered by benefit@work
• Working at the Albert Einstein science park on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam
• Work place within walking distance of Potsdam main train station, or just a short ride on the shuttle bus

Start date: 1st November2025
Fixed-term: 3 years
Salary: The position is classed as salary group 13 according to “TVöD Bund (Tarifgebiet Ost)”. The salary group is determined on the basis of the Collective Wage Agreement and the respective personal qualifications.
Working hours: Part-time 75% (currently 29.25 h/week)
Place of work: Potsdam Have we piqued your interest?If so, we look forward to receiving your application by 15th September 2025 . Requested documents: CV and cover letter Desirable documents: certificates (grades), referencesPlease use our online application form only.

The GFZ actively promotes diversity and explicitly welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of ethnic and social origin, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and identity, religion/belief, age and physical characteristics. We also promote an inclusive working environment in which everyone can fully develop their own talents. Anyone who has been recognised as severely disabled, will be given preferential consideration in the event of equal suitability and qualification in accordance with the provisions of the German Social Code IX. In case of further queries regarding gender equality, please do not hesitate to contact our Equal Opportunities Officer.

“Diversity in perspectives” is one of GFZ's core values. As an integral part of supporting diversity at our centre, we actively promote women in science and in leadership positions. We among others do this through our gender equality plan and the cascade model measures which we actively implement to enable sustainable equal opportunities in academic career paths. The GFZ thus committedly strives for gender equality in science, including in leadership positions, and strongly encourages women to apply.

Your personal data will be processed for the purpose of conducting the selection procedure on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 b, Art. 88 GDPR in conjunction with Art. 26 of the Data Protection Act for the State of Brandenburg. After completion of the procedure, application documents will be deleted in compliance with data protection regulations.

In case of any further queries relating to the field of activity, please contact Dr. Patrick Frings and/or Prof. Dirk Sachse via email. If you have any general questions about the application process, please contact our recruiting team at our phone number [phone].

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.