The Biometeorology group at the Institute of Ecology at the University of Innsbruck has an opening for a PhD student position within the frame of the Italian-Austrian collaborative project “CYCLAMEN – Cycling of carbon and water in mountain ecosystems under changing climate and land use”.
The PhD project involves working with an extant soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer model and adapting it to make it interface with remotely sensed data in the visible and near-infrared region. Eddy covariance carbon dioxide and water vapor flux data from +30 sites in the Alps and MODIS satellite remote sensing data will be used in a Bayesian calibration framework to determine model parameters and their uncertainties. Regional climate and land-use scenarios, provided by project partners, will be used for projections into the future.
The successful candidate will have a MSc or equivalent degree in Biology, Environmental, Atmospheric, Computer Science or similar that allows him/her to enroll in the PhD program Biology at the University of Innsbruck and will possess the following key skills: (i) a thorough understanding of ecosystem carbon and water cycling processes, (ii) proven ability to work with complex ecological models, Bayesian inference and to manipulate large data sets (preferably in Matlab), (iii) excellent oral and written communication skills (English, German is a plus) and (iv) the ability to work efficiently in an interdisciplinary project team.
The position will be available from May 2017 on for a duration of three years.
Applications including a CV, letter of motivation and contact details of two references should be directed to Prof. Georg Wohlfahrt (georg.wohlfahrt@uibk.ac.at) until 20 March 2017.
