"Postdoctoral Research Fellow (f/m/d) in Estimation of respiration and net primary production in boreal and temperate forests"

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – The University in the Helmholtz Association

In close partnership with society, KIT develops solutions for urgent challenges – from climate change, energy transition and sustainable use of natural resources to artificial intelligence, sovereignty and an aging population. As The University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT unites scientific excellence from insight to application-driven research under one roof – and is thus in a unique position to drive this transformation. As a University of Excellence, KIT offers its more than 10,000 employees and 22,800 students outstanding opportunities to shape a sustainable and resilient future.

KIT – Science for Impact.

We are looking for the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU) for May 1, 2026 or as soon as possible, limited up to 2 years (with the potential option of an extension), for a

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (f/m/d) in Estimation of respiration and net primary production in boreal and temperate forests

Job description

The Plant Ecophysiology Group (https://ecophys.imk-ifu.kit.edu/) focuses on research into how trees and forests respond to drought and other environmental change across scales and is looking for a highly motivated new colleague to support the team in spatial data analysis, statistical modelling and model-data integration.

• You will conduct research within the DFG-funded project “Estimating tree tissue nitrogen content, respiration and net primary production in boreal and temperate forests” (NicerNPP).
• Within this project, you will integrate recent satellite-derived spatial products of forest biomass with complementary data on tree traits and species distributions to estimate plant respiration and net primary production (NPP) across boreal and temperate forests.
• For this task, you will compile and analyze a database of measured tree tissue respiration rates.
• You will then assess the environmental drivers shaping the spatial patterns of respiration and NPP and compare your results with existing NPP products as well as outputs from vegetation models.
• This work will support improved monitoring of key carbon fluxes for quantifying forest growth and carbon uptake and help enhance their representation in vegetation models, particularly under changing climate and species distributions.
• You are expected to publish your findings in internationally recognized journals.

Personal qualification:

• You have a PhD degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., Earth System Sciences, Geography, Environmental Sciences, Biology, Physics) or will hold this degree before starting this position.
• You have a strong research interest and background in the carbon cycle of forest ecosystems.
• You have strong programming skills (e.g., R, Python, C++).
• You have experience in data analysis, statistics, model-data integration and the application of remote sensing products.
• You are highly motivated and open to communicate with other researchers and technicians.
• You are interested to present your research at scientific conferences and project meetings.
• Excellent English skills are mandatory.

Become a member of staff of the only German University of Excellence that conducts large-scale research on the national level. Work under excellent working conditions in an international environment and be active in research and academic education for our future. Benefit from specific training when starting your job and from a wide range of further qualification offers. Use our flexible working time models (flexitime, work from home).

We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore we kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job. Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

Please apply online until February 6, 2026 using the vacancy number 24/2025 to Ms Rink, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Human Resources, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany. For further information, please contact Dr. Martin Thurner (martin.thurner@kit.edu)