PhD Position in remote sensing for Soil organic carbon and tillage assessment (f/m/d)

Müncheberg

Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e.V.

The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as a nationally and internationally active research institute is to deliver solutions for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable agriculture – together with society. ZALF is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg (approx. 35 minutes by regional train from Berlin-Lichtenberg). It also maintains a research station with further locations in Dedelow and Paulinenaue.

The project “SOILRES Multi-faceted biodiversity integration for a healthy soil and resilient crop management” aims to enhance soil health and crop resilience by integrating biodiversity through the development of interventions based on soil-plant-microbiota interactions, fostering sustainable agricultural practices, and deploying advanced digital tools for biodiversity assessment, thereby contributing to long-term agricultural sustainability and resilience across diverse pedo-climatic zones. To support the activities of the project and integrate multisource Earth Observation data for tillage impacts and Soil Organic Carbon monitoring

We are offering, subject to final confirmation by the funding organization, a temporary 65% part-time position (26 hours per week) starting from 01.06.2025 limited to 48 months at our location in Müncheberg as

PhD Position in remote sensing for Soil organic carbon and tillage assessment (f/m/d)
21-2025

Your tasks:

• process multisource satellite and UAV based data collected in the case study regions
• apply and develop models for tillage mapping and monitoring using remote sensing
• apply and further develop machine learning models for SOC assessment
• contribution to documents collaboratively created, such as papers, documentation, reports

Your qualifications:

• a completed master's degree in the field of Agriculture, Environmental science, Geosciences or related fields
• programming experience in Python or extensive experience in another high-level programming language is a prerequisite
• experience in geospatial data science, remote sening, GIS, and open source software is required
• strong interest in scientific writing and excellent command of English
• experience with Git and GitHub and Linux environment is desirable

What we offer:

• an interdisciplinary and solution-oriented working environment that encourages independence and self-reliance
• classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to E13 (including special annual payment)
• a collegial and open-minded working atmosphere in a dynamic research institution
• access to modern workspace with modern IT infrastructure (HPC)
• mobile work of max. 40% monthly working time is possible given reconciliation with the project requirements
• company ticket

Women are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons with equal qualifications are favored. Please send your application preferably online (see button online application below). For e-mail applications, create a PDF document (one PDF file, max. 5 MB; packed PDF documents, archive files like zip, rar etc. Word documents cannot be processed and therefore cannot be considered!) with the usual documents, in particular CV, proof of qualification and certificates, stating the reference number 21-2025 until 15 April 2025 to (see button e-mail application below).

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: Dr. Gohar Ghazaryan, Tel. +49 (0) 33432/82-411, email. Gohar.ghazaryan@zalf.de.

For cost reasons, application documents or extensive publications can only be returned if an adequately stamped envelope is attached.

If you apply, we collect and process your personal data in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the EU GDPR only for the processing of your application and for purposes that result from possible future employment with the ZALF. Your data will be deleted after six months.

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF),

Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany

Contact of Human resource management: personal@zalf.de

www.zalf.de