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Postdoctoral Researcher

Urban Productive Ecosystems, Technical University of Munich

TV-L E13 100%; d/f/m

About us

We research the ecology and geography of urban and agricultural systems; these include urban gardens, farms, parks and forests. In our inter- and transdisciplinary work, we combine research in ecological principles with applied aspects, social-ecological investigations and environmental education. Our group offers a postdoctoral researcher position for initially three years, with an option for an extension to five.

Requirements

• Enthusiasm for analyzing (social-)ecological processes that drive biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban and agricultural ecosystems
• Bringing together basic and applied research to understand and thereby optimize urban ecosystems
• Experience with e.g., urban ecology, agroecosystems, arthropod biocoenoses, ecosystem services
• Methodological knowledge of functional ecology, landscape ecology, ecological networks or molecular methods (in the field and laboratory)
• Interest in social dimensions of urban ecosystem services and their management, such as human-nature interactions, nature relatedness, wellbeing benefits and competition over land, all impacting biodiversity

Qualifications

• A PhD in ecology, geography, landscape planning or similar, ideally with a focus in urban contexts
• Excellent experience in experimental design, multivariate statistics and modelling in R (additional programming languages an advantage), Geographic Information System application for analysis and visualization purposes, scientific writing in English and German
• Team player with very good teaching and mentoring skills
• Organization of field and laboratory research in an interdisciplinary team
• Excellent, proactive communication style
• Experience with (inter)national research networks and multidisciplinary partners

Tasks

• Support with the conception, coordination and management of field research in Bavaria
• Analysis of data and development of indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban and agricultural ecosystems
• Publications in (inter)national journals and presenting work at scientific conferences
• Leading courses (5 SWS) in the study programmes: Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning; Agricultural Sciences; Sustainable Resource Management; Ecological Engineering. This  includes courses such as ‘Advanced Concepts and Methods in Urban Ecosystems’, ‘Urban Agriculture’, ‘Urban Biodiversity’, and others.
• Mentoring Bachelor’s and Master’s students and doctoral candidates

We offer

• Inspiring research and teaching topics in an interdisciplinary research group within a research-strong department at one of the most renowned universities in Europe
• Motivating work environment with regular meetings, workshops, conferences and retreats Professorship for Urban Productive Ecosystems TUM School of Life Sciences Technical University of Munich (TUM)
• Excellent opportunities for (inter)national cooperation and networking
• TV-L E13 (100%) salary in accordance with the Public Sector Collective Agreement on Länder; the contract for the position is initially limited to 3 years with possible extension (e.g., till 5 or 6 years)

Start date:

Negotiable, but ideally starting July/August 2025

Application:

Please send your application consisting of: (1) a 2-page letter of motivation and a brief outline of career goals, research experience and research ideas you can imagine contributing to the team; (2) a detailed CV/resume with publication list; and (3) the contact details of two references. Please send these documents as a single pdf file (upe_postdoc_surname_appldoc.pdf) to Monika Egerer (monika.egerer@tum.de).
Application deadline: Friday, 28.03.2025

Questions?

Please contact Monika Egerer or visit our websites for more information about our research group and the nature of our work: www.upe-lab.de | https://www.lss.ls.tum.de/en/upe/home/

Professorship for Urban Productive Ecosystems
TUM School of Life Sciences
Technical University of Munich
Prof. Dr Monika Egerer
Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising
Tel. +49 (8161) 71 – 4756
Email: monika.egerer@tum.de

Equal Opportunities and Data Protection Information: TUM is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified people of all gender are encouraged to apply. We strive to increase the proportion of women, so applications from women are especially welcome. Applicants with disabilities will be given preference, if they essentially have the same qualifications. As part of your application for a position at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you are transmitting personal data. Please note our data protection information in accordance with Art. 13 General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on collection and processing of personal data in the context of your application (https://portal.mytum.de/kompass/datenschutz/Bewerbung/). By submitting your application, you confirm that you have read TUM’s data protection information.

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