ABOUT US:

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/

We are looking for you:

Scientific programmer (m/f/x) for model-data integration
(for two years with option for permanent position)

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

YOUR QUALIFICATIONS:

·     a strong interest in climate and sustainability science
·     a PhD in a natural or mathematical science subject (computer sciences, 
geography, mathematics or similar)
·     very good programming skills, 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

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 27, 
2024. For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Julia Pongratz 
(julia.pongratz@lmu.de).