"Doctoral Researcher Position in “Quantitative Reconstruction and Assessment of Socio-Environmental Hazards in Marginal to Highly Used Regions in Prehistorical to Historical Settings in Eurasia”"

Doctoral Researcher Position in “Quantitative Reconstruction and Assessment of Socio-Environmental Hazards in Marginal to Highly Used Regions in Prehistorical to Historical Settings in Eurasia”

Kiel University - The Cluster of Excellence ROOTS

Qualification Type:PhDLocation:Kiel - GermanyFunding for:UK Students, EU Students, International StudentsFunding amount:Not SpecifiedHours:Full TimePlaced On:4th November 2025Closes:15th December 2025

For its 2nd phase, ROOTS is offering a Doctoral Researcher Position in “Quantitative Reconstruction and Assessment of Socio-Environmental Hazards in Marginal to Highly Used Regions in Prehistorical to Historical Settings in Eurasia” (Subproject B6) starting 1st July 2026.

Profile: Paleoenvironmental studies, palynology, geoarchaeology, biomarkers, stabile isotopes, bio-geochemistry, sea-level reconstructions

The subcluster ROOTS of Socio-environmental Hazard focuses on adaptations and opportunities that have emerged in response to disturbances, which are often interpreted as hazards. The overarching aim is to build a continuous reference of the human footprint on environments from prehistoric to historical times and ranging from marginal to highly used areas. This serves as a baseline to identify the impact and cascading effects of hazards, precursors of crises and their aftermath, and to identify successful mitigation strategies. While global and regional data bases (pollen assemblages, land cover reconstructions, and temperature reconstructions) provide a sound database for large-scale syntheses, large uncertainties persist with regard to other variables like seasonality, hydroclimate, or occurrence of extreme events, all of which are highly relevant variables for early agrarian economies.

Required qualification: The candidate should have an excellent MSc degree in Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Archaeology, or in comparable disciplines. Basic experience with quantitative paleoenvironmental methods is expected, e.g. methods applied in the fields of archaeobotany, geoarchaeology or environmental archaeology. A precondition is an interest in human-environmental relations and interdisciplinary research.

This position (subproject B6) is part of a joint call for 9 doctoral and 5 postdoctoral positions within the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS.

The application deadline for all positions is December 15, 2025.

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