The Department of Ecosystem Research at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) in Berlin has an opening for a PhD position: Modelling of pollutant retention processes and related ecosystem services in rivers and floodplains.

The position is offered part-time (50%), starting in 2015, and limited to three years. Salary is paid according to the TVöD. The position contributes to the collaborative projects "River Ecosystem Service Index" (RESI)" granted by the BMBF, and also to the collaborative EU project "AQUACROSS" (subject to final confirmation).

The successful candidate is expected to perform the following work in close collaboration with the head of the project, IGB colleagues and other project partners: a) Modelling of processes that result in the retention of matter (nitrogen, phosphorus and other compounds) in selected river catchments in Germany and within the whole Danube catchment using MONERIS under various scenarios. A special focus will be laid on floodplains, and on potential differences between short-term and long-term retention in such self-purification processes. For that, new algorithms for retention have to be developed. b) Derivation of involved ecosystem services, trade-offs and their assessment, and visualization of those in maps. c) Elaboration of literature summaries, project deliverables, scientific publication manuscripts. d) Communcation and close collaboration with related project partners.

For more information, see the official offer attached below.