Postdoctoral position (m/f/d) grassland restoration

The Livestock Systems research group at the TUM School of Life Sciences is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d) to work on grassland soils restoration. The aim of our group is to improve the understanding of the trade-offs between production, mitigation and conservation in livestock-based systems, and to identify innovative mechanisms for landscape-level management. Our group combines empirical work (with experiments in the field and in the lab) and modelling techniques. The focus of this postdoctoral position is the generation of empirical datasets for livestock systems in contrasting sites around the world. The research programme will examine productivity of grasslands, nutrient stocks and cycling and their relationship to biodiversity. We conduct experiments in the field to understand how grazing influences grassland productivity and their stability, aiming to detect indicators of early restoration success. This work is conducted in collaboration with various partners in Europe, such as Lancaster University in the UK, the Argentinean National Research Council (CONICET) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Kenya.

Your tasks:

will be to design and conduct experiments at various scales from laboratory manipulations of animal-plant-soil systems including controlled experiments under varying environmental conditions, to large field-scale experiments with wild and domestic grazers. These experiments will test hypotheses related to the effects on nutrient cycling of grazers with different body size and grazing habits and duration of grazing. You will collaborate with data scientists to integrate empirical and novel evidence to improve the understanding of functioning of grasslands, producing novel data for the tropics and sub-tropics.

What we expect from you

• University degree (M.Sc.) and Ph.D. in Agricultural Science, Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science or a related field.
• Thorough understanding of the processes determing grasslands productivity, nutrient cycling and those leading to grassland soil degradation.
• Experience in conducting experiments (field and laboratory). 
• Experience conducting statistical analyses of experimental datasets, and strong analylical skills (proficiency in R, or Python, or Matlab).
• Publication record appropriate to stage of career, with recent first author publications.
• Interest in interdisciplinary approaches.
• Good language (written and spoken English) and presentation skills. 
• Ability to work in a team, with effective interpersonal communication skills.
• Willingness to participate in the supervision of BSc, MSc and PhD work.

Our offer

We offer an interesting and challenging job in a motivating and expanding international team at Chair of Livestock Systems in TUM (Freising). The chair has a broad network of collaborators across Europe (e.g. Lancaster University, The University of Manchester, Wageningen University, University Giessen, Göttingen University, GFZ Potsdam, University of Galway), Africa and the Americas. The Chair of Livestock Systems is newly established at TUM and will include several postdocs, PhD students, and technical staff. The team will work on various topics, including multi-scale analyses of productivity, nutrient and water cycling in livestock systems, grassland restoration, GHG emissions from livestock systems, and global changes impacts on crop-livestock systems. Freising is a charming small student city in the vicinity to the vibrant city of Munich, very well connected by train (ca. 30 minutes), and a perfect starting point to explore the Bavarian Alps.

Working hours are flexible and remuneration is in accordance with TUM regulations (TV-L E13). Severely disabled persons will be given preference in the case of essentially equal suitability and qualifications. The successful candidate is expected to develop their own research profile and to apply for research funding. Teaching requirements are according to the Bavarian University Law and involve livestock and grassland related courses (5 hours/week). The position is initially for three years but can be extended to up to six years. TUM aims to increase the proportion of female candidates; applications from female candidates are therefore particularly encouraged.

Contact

Please send your application with a short letter of motivation conveying your interest and suitability for the position, CV, and certificates and the contact details of two references to Technical University of Munich, Chair of Livestock Systems, Liesel-Beckmann Straße 4, 85354 Freising, Tel: +49 (0)816171 5483, Email: office.lsys@ls.tum.de, by 30.09.2024. If you are applying by email, please send all documents as a single PDF document.

When applying for a position at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you will be submitting personal data. Please refer to our data protection information in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) http://go.tum.de/554159 regarding the collection and processing of personal data in the context of your application. By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of the TUM data protection information.

Please direct questions about the position to Prof. Mariana Rufino (mariana.rufino@tum.de).

More information about the Livestock Systems Research Group can be found at www3.ls.tum.de/lsys/