Department: BIOLOGY
Seminar/Institute: Biocentre Klein Flottbek and Botanical Garden
Upon funding approval the international Research Unit Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology of Plants at the University of Hamburg will have a position open for a
Post-doc Research Associate (wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in in einem post-doc-Arbeitsverhältnis) in the field of climate change and adaptive land management within the SASSCAL initiative
- salary group 13 TV-L – with a starting date of 1 November 2012.
The position calls for 39 hours per week. The short-term contract will end on 31 July 2016 (see also § 2 of the Aca-demic Fixed-Term Contract Law (
The university intends to increase the number of women amongst its academic personnel and expressly encourages qualified women to apply. In compliance with the Hamburg Equal Opportunity Law, preference will be given to qualified female applicants.
Project background:
SASSCAL is a joint initiative between Angola, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia, responding to the challenges of global change (http:// www.sasscal.org; also see under “News”). Germany, in close cooperation with the African partner countries, initiated the implementation of a regional competence centre in Southern Africa. Science and research offer proactive approaches to deal with current projections of global change impacts. The research aims to identify appropriate interventions in the fields of climate, water, forestry, agriculture and biodiversity.
Responsibilities:
The research associate’s duties comprise advanced scientific coordination and guidance for a number of institutional activities and related research tasks and sub-projects, encompassing research, capacity development and the delivery of scientific services within the initiative “Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management”, SASSCAL.
Areas of Responsibility:
The successful candidate will participate in the scientific coordination team of SASSCAL. She/he will contribute to strengthen the network of African and German researchers involved in the related tasks in SASSCAL. She/he will support, guide and integrate the work of scientists, postgraduate students and technicians in the areas of methods, data sampling, data analyses, statistics, and scientific publishing in the context of the interdisciplinary research on arid, semi-arid to sub-humid ecosystems within the SASSCAL region. The spatial focus of this specific position will be put on the more arid countries Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
Duties comprise collaboration on the coordination of the wider team of the involved six countries including the inter-faces between research, capacity development and service delivery.
The candidate is expected (and will be given time) to develop an own research profile within one of the above-mentioned fields.
Requirements:
Academic degree in biology, ecology, geosciences or a land-use related academic field plus an excellent doctoral degree. Full professional proficiency in English.
We are looking for a highly motivated experienced scientist with a sound understanding of dryland ecosystems, excellent communication skills and a good publication record. The successful candidate should have extensive expertise in the coordination of international scientific projects and project management as well as intercultural empathy.
Proven expertise in ecological or spatial statistics is required. Category B of driving license is essential. The job will call for extensive travelling in Southern Africa. Research experience within the SASSCAL region is advantageous.
Preference will be given to disabled applicants with equal qualifications.
Application dossiers (application letter, curriculum vitae, degree certificate(s), etc.) are to be submitted in electronic format (one file, .pdf format, maximum 6 MB) to Prof. Dr. Norbert Juergens (email: norbert.juergens@t-online.de and ingo.homburg@uni-hamburg.deby 13 September 2012. Please, refer to “SASSCAL – ad 03”.
For more information please contact Dr. Manfred Finckh [phone: ] or check the following web-site:http://www.sasscal.org/.
* § 15 Absatz 1 Nummer 4 Buchstabe a HmbHG
