DOCTORAL RESEARCHER (M/F/D) IN THE PROJECT “THE JENA EXPERIMENT – SUBPROJECT 4: PLANT DIVERSITY, PLANT HISTORY, AND SOIL HISTORY EFFECTS ON THE TEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF PLANT AND SOIL ACTIVITY”

limited until 31 January 2024
65% of a full-time position
salary: Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L

The Leipzig University offers the aforementioned position at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig in Leipzig from 1 February 2020 onwards.

Background

The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a National Research Centre funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Its central mission is to promote theory-driven synthesis and data-driven theory in this emerging field. It is located in the city of Leipzig and it is a central institution of the Leipzig University, jointly hosted by the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). More Information about iDiv: www.idiv.de.

The Jena Experiment is a DFG Research Unit that explores the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms of long-term biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. The subprojects of the Research Unit aim at exploring variation in community assembly processes and resulting differences in biotic interactions as determinants of the long-term BEF relationship. The unification of evolutionary and ecosystem processes requires collaboration across the subprojects in targeted plant and soil history experiments using cutting-edge technology and will produce significant synergies and novel mechanistic insights into BEF relationships.
The Research Unit of the Jena Experiment is uniquely positioned in this context by taking an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to capture whole-ecosystem responses to changes in biodiversity and to advance a vibrant research field. In this context, subproject 4 will explore the influence of plant diversity, plant history, and soil history on community phenology (i.e. the onset, magnitude, duration, and stability of activity patterns of plants and soil organisms). We will test whether these factors drive temporal niche differentiation and stability of activity periods, as well as whether these responses strengthen over time. For more information, see http://www.the-jena-experiment.de.

Tasks
– novel research on major questions of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research
– performing field work and laboratory analyses by collecting bi-weekly plant and soil samples year round
– mixed model analysis of variance, time series analysis, and structural equation modeling
– writing and publishing of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals
– presenting results at national and international conferences

Requirements
– Master in ecology or a closely related field of research
– expertise in plant and/or soil ecology
– interest and ability in interdisciplinary collaboration with a diversity of ecologists
– strong statistical skills (in R)
– experience of plant- and/or soil-related field work
– excellent English communication skills (speaking and writing)
– team-oriented and strong organizational skills