The Institute for Biodiversity of the Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, in Braunschweig looking for a temporary full-time position (currently 39 hours/week), starting at the earliest possible date, for a fixed term until June 30, 2028 as a

Research associate (f/m/d)

specialising in monitoring, indicators, modelling

in a Third-party funding PostDoc position for project work (acronym: MonViA).

MonViA (Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes) is a joint project at the Thünen Institute, which was developed in a joint consortium (together with JKI and BLE) and is now being implemented. MonViA is present at national and EU level in the field of biodiversity monitoring. MonViA is intended to create a representative and scientifically sound data basis from which recommendations for action for biodiversity-promoting and sustainable land management can be derived. For the Thünen Institute, the collection, processing, and provision of monitoring data and resulting products are central tasks and long-term goals within the framework of MonViA. Key components of the implementation phase are (1) the further expansion of trend monitoring of organismic diversity in agricultural landscapes, (2) the development of data time series to map habitat diversity, and (3) the operationalisation and further development of indicators and concepts.

Your tasks:

• Creation of a workflow for the (semi-)automatic generation of biodiversity indices and trends
• Acquisition, preparation, and processing of publicly available biodiversity data of various species groups (e.g. breeding birds, butterflies, vascular plants from GBIF, Ornitho, etc.)
• Calculation of abundance and diversity indices
• Calculation of population trends (e.g. using TRIM) for individual species and species groups
• Analysing the derived population and diversity patterns and trends: influence of spatial determinants, land use, and agri-environmental measures
• Preparation of scientific publications
• Preparation of project reports
• Active participation in internal and cross-institute working groups Your requirements profile:
• Completion of a university degree (M.Sc., Univ. Dipl.) in the field of ecology, agroecology, landscape ecology, agricultural or environmental sciences, physical geography or comparable disciplines
• Very good knowledge of the interplay between agricultural production, the environment, biodiversity, and ecosystem services
• Very good knowledge of working with publicly available biodiversity data
• Very good knowledge of calculating biodiversity indices and trend analyses
• Very good knowledge of statistical modelling (preferably with R or Python)
• Good knowledge of working with (large) spatially explicit data sets and geographic information systems (GIS)
• Good experience in conducting research in interdisciplinary projects
• Good experience in writing scientific papers
• Experience in communicating research results to non-scientific audiences (e.g. government ministries, practitioners, or the general public)

Your personal qualification profile:

• High motivation for interdisciplinary research
• Structured and independent way of working using goal- and problem-orientated approaches
• Very good teamwork and communication skills
• Ability and willingness to work closely with other Thünen Institutes and external partner institutions
• Very good command of spoken and written German and English

Our offer:

• Security and benefits: collectively agreed, fixed-term employment with attractive social benefits (e.g. company pension scheme, annual one-off payment, capital-forming benefits) upon fulfilment of the collective agreement and personal requirements according to pay group 13 TVöD
• Responsibility and a sense of purpose: responsible work in a dedicated team, involvement in a dynamic, interdisciplinary research institute and proximity to current policy and practice-relevant topics
• Flexibility and work-life balance: flexible working time models, fundamental possibility of part-time employment as well as mobile working and teleworking, certified employer berufundfamilie audit with a wide range of offers for reconciling work and life phases
• Prospects: further training opportunities for the area of responsibility and individual development
• Health: company health management and preventative healthcare programmes
• Mobility: JobTicket, public transport connections, free parking spaces and the option of using e-charging stations

The Thünen Institute promotes professional equality between women and men and therefore expressly welcomes applications from women.

The Thünen Institute is committed to inclusion. Applications from people with severe disabilities are therefore expressly encouraged. They will be given special consideration in the selection process.

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Christian Levers (Tel. 0531- 2570 2235 Email: christian.levers@thuenen.de).

Applications with a curriculum vitae in tabular form, a description of education and professional career, addresses of two references, copies of certificates and a short synopsis (1 page) of a (fictitious) research project based on the tasks of the position (background, motivation, research questions, intended methods).

are requested by 30.05.2025 , quoting the reference number „ 2025-098-BD“electronically as one single pdf file to:

bd@thuenen.de

Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute

Institute for Biodiversity

Bundesallee 65

D-38116 Braunschweig, Germany

Information in accordance with Article 13 GDPR on the collection of personal data can be found at www.thuenen.de/de/thuenen-institut/karriere

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