Job Title

Scientific programmer (m/f/x) (climate modeling)

Job Description

YOUR TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Models are our main tool to project how ecosystems and climate evolve. But a key driver – the vast usage of land through agriculture, forestry and urbanization – is still lacking substantial detail in these models. This impairs our fundamental understanding of the interactions of humans, land, and climate, and is also critical as models are increasingly guiding political decision-making on land-use and climate to limit global warming. You can contribute to building the next generation of climate models, working at the intersection of numerical modeling, high-performance computing, and large-scale data analysis. You will contribute to strategic decision-making as well as to concrete design and implementation of land-use processes in our models. You will work closely with the other researchers in our group, and with external partners, e.g., in natESM, to align the group’s developments with the national and international modeling landscape. While the focus will adjust over the years with the development of the research field and success in related research proposals by our working group, it currently lies on the Earth system model ICON-ESM and its land component JSBACH4 as well as the land-use emission model BLUE, which integrates a range of Earth observational data.

Further tasks will be to

• support team members in model development and setup of simulations, and convey good scientific programming skills to the team members
• contribute to scientific publications and scientific outreach activities
• contribute to writing proposals that advance the field of Earth system and ecosystem modeling
• do some teaching in the study programs of the Department of Geography

BENEFITS:

• the chance to be part of a dynamic team working at the frontier of Earth system science
• Initially E13 TV-L position, commensurate with work experience, for two years starting June 2024 or soon thereafter. If the candidate’s performance is satisfying it is intended to make the position permanent. A change to civil servant status (A13) is possible under certain conditions, a later promotion up to A14 is feasible.
• career development through the LMU qualification program
• a stimulating working environment at one of Germany’s top-ranked universities. Our institute is located in the centre of the vibrant and internationally diverse city of Munich with excellent public transportation links.

Handicapped persons with comparable qualifications receive preferential status. We encourage female candidates to apply.

CONTACT:

Please send an application outlining your fit for the position (including a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, copies of scientific degrees, and the names and contact information of two references) by e-mail (one PDF-attachment with max. 5 MB including all documents) with subject "ModDat-2024LMU" to climate.jobs@geographie.uni-muenchen.de. Deadline for application is March 30, 2024; the position remains open until filled. For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Julia Pongratz (julia.pongratz@lmu.de).

Restrictions

• No telecommuting
• Agencies are OK

Requirements

• a strong interest in climate and sustainability science
• a PhD in a natural or mathematical science subject (computer sciences, physics, geography, mathematics or similar)
• very good programming skills (our models and scripting is foremost python- and fortran-based), ability to work on high-performance computing systems and with large datasets
• excellent communication skills in English (our working language), proven also by scientific publications
• high communicative skills, high independence and proven ability to structure complex processes and efficiently finish tasks

About the Company

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München is a leading research university in Europe. Since its founding in 1472 it has been committed to the highest international standards of excellence in research and teaching. The Chair for Physical Geography and Land Use Systems (Prof. Julia Pongratz) at LMU’s Department of Geography investigates the interactions between ecosystems and climate, and how these are altered by the anthropogenic use of land. Our group develops and applies the latest generation of land-use emission, vegetation and Earth system models and integrates them with observational data. Key research questions are the fate of ecosystems under the pressures of land-use and climate change, Earth system feedbacks via energy, water and biogeochemical cycles, and the role of vegetation and soils for greenhouse gas emissions reduction and CO2 removals in support of the Paris Agreement. The team is strongly involved in large national and international collaborations such as the Global Carbon Project, CMIP, IPCC, CDRterra, Horizon Europe projects and the national Earth System Modeling Strategy (natESM) [1].

[1] https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/ - https://www.wcrp-climate.org/wgcm-cmip - https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/ - https://cdrterra.de/en - https://www.nat-esm.de/

Contact Info

• Contact: Julia Pongratz
• E-mail contact: julia.pongratz@lmu.de
• Web: https://www.geographie.uni-muenchen.de