Interested in working on your own research project in a multidisciplinary marine science environment?
The Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean" offers funding for postdoc projects in Kiel, Germany. Projects will be funded for up to three years.
The call is open until February 28th, 2014.
The Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean"
The Cluster's mission is to use the results of multidisciplinary research to predict the future of the Earth's marine environment. This includes understanding changes to the past and present ocean as well as the interaction between society and the ocean in regard to marine resources, services and risks. This Mission carries with it an obligation to develop and assess scientifically-based global and regional ocean governance options, including their legal, economic and ethical aspects. The Cluster uses innovative and suitable means to share its findings with the international scientific community, stakeholders, decision makers, civil society and the public at large.
Call
Research Areas and Contacts
R1 Our Common Future Ocean
Disciplines: Ethics, economics, art, political science, law
Objectives: Concept of ocean sustainability; application to specific issues; artistic perception/interpretation of the cultural impact of ocean change
Central question: How can ocean sustainability be conceptualized in a way that can be widely agreed upon to guide responsible decision-making?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Tom Duscher, td@muthesius.de
Martin Quaas, quaas@economics.uni-kiel.de
Martin Visbeck, mvisbeck@geomar.de
Konrad Ott, ott@philsem.uni-kiel.de
R2 Ocean Governance
Disciplines: Law, economics, political science, philosophy, geography
Objectives: New approaches to governing the ocean towards sustainability
Central question: How can environmental liability law be implemented in the international setting and how must sovereign rights in exclusive economic zones (EEZs) be revised?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Kerstin Odendahl, odendahl@wsi.uni-kiel.de
Martin Quaas, quaas@economics.uni-kiel.de
Nele Matz-Lück, nmatz@wsi.uni-kiel.de
R3 Ocean Resources
Disciplines: Biology, geology, economics, law
Objectives: Determine the potential of ocean resources (living and seafloor); better management and governance of these resources
Central question: How can ocean resources be exploited in a sustainable or low impact manner by striking an appropriate balance between ocean use and ocean protection?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Till Requate, requate@wiso.uni-kiel.de
Lars Rüpke, lruepke@geomar.de
R4 Ocean Innovation
Disciplines: Biology, medicine, and materials science
Objectives: Identify chemical, structural, and physical principles for implementation in biomimetic materials (surface microstructures, medical products, dietary additives)
Central question: How can ocean biological substances and materials be used to support technological innovations for a range of applications benefitting human society?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Stanislav Gorb, sgorb@zoologie.uni-kiel.de
Ruth Schmitz-Streit, rschmitz@ifam.uni-kiel.de
R5 Ocean Sinks
Disciplines: Economics, law, mathematics, biogeochemistry, geosciences, marine biology
Objectives: Assess the potential and limitations of marine carbon sequestration techniques
Central question: What is the future role of marine carbon sequestration techniques in mitigating climate change?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Andreas Oschlies, aoschlies@geomar.de
Katrin Rehdanz, katrin.rehdanz@ifw-kiel.de
Ulf Riebesell, uriebesell@geomar.de
Klaus Wallmann, kwallmann@geomar.de
R6 Dangerous Ocean
Disciplines: Geosciences, coastal engineering, economics, law
Objectives: Investigate oceanic and coastal geohazards and their socio-economic consequences
Central question: How can we cope with ocean hazards and prepare for coastal change?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Jan Behrmann, jbehrmann@geomar.de
Sebastian Krastel, skrastel@geophysik.uni-kiel.de
Karl Stattegger, kst@gpi.uni-kiel.de
Athanasios Vafeidis, vafeidis@geographie.uni-kiel.de
R7 Ocean Interfaces
Disciplines: Biology, chemistry, geochemistry, geology, physical oceanography, mathematics
Objectives: Investigate the accumulation, transformation and transport of climate-relevant substances at ocean interfaces
Central Question: How do micro-scale processes at ocean interfaces affect fluxes of climate-relevant substances?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Gernot Friedrichs, gfriedr@phc.uni-kiel.de
Ulf Riebesell, uriebesell@geomar.de
Friedrich Temps, temps@phc.uni-kiel.de
Tina Treude, ttreude@geomar.de
R8 Evolving Ocean
Disciplines: Biogeochemistry, marine ecology, genomics, biomedical research
Objectives: Evaluate the rapid evolutionary change of populations, species and communities in the context of their biogeochemical environments
Central question: How will rapid evolutionary change of populations, species and communities affect ecosystem and biogeochemical processes?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Thorsten Reusch, treusch@geomar.de
Philip Rosenstiel, p.rosenstiel@mucosa.de
R9 Ocean Controls
Disciplines: Geophysics, biogeochemistry, paleoceanography, climate modelling
Objectives: Investigate the role of the ocean in past climate and environmental change and identify key processes and potential tipping points that could control future global warming
Central question: How does the ocean control climate and environment at transitions of warming?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Christian Berndt, cberndt@geomar.de
Birgit Schneider, bschneider@gpi.uni-kiel.de
R10 Ocean Observations
Disciplines: Chemical and physical oceanography, informatics, geochemistry, geology, law, economics
Objectives: Enhance and improve global and regional sustained ocean observations
Central question: How can ocean observations be improved?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Wilhelm Hasselbring, wha@informatik.uni-kiel.de
Arne Körtzinger, akoertzinger@geomar.de
Martin Visbeck, mvisbeck@geomar.de
R11 Predicted Ocean
Disciplines: Ocean circulation, climate and carbon cycle modelling, numerical mathematics, optimization theory
Objectives: Elucidate the prospective changes in regional ocean dynamics and biogeochemistry over the next 50 to 100 years
Central question: How will climate change affect ocean properties relevant for ecosystems / societies (acidification, warming, sea level) at a regional scale in the next 50 to 100 years?
Research coordinators for this topic:
Claus Böning, cboening@geomar.de
Malte Braack, braack@math.uni-kiel.de
Emerging Research Initiative (ERI):
Molecular biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology of marine hard rocks
This research initiative has evolved from existing research topics in "The Future Ocean" but will also cover new aspects.
Disciplines:Geology, Biogeochemistry and Microbiology
Objectives: Develop sampling strategies and novel techniques for efficient extraction of biomaterials (lipids, genes, proteins) from marine hard rocks adapting methodologies currently tailored for soft sediment biogeochemistry and geomicrobiology
Central Question: How can microbial community structures, substrate acquisition processes and metabolic reactions in submarine hard rocks be characterized?
Central aim: Characterize community structures, substrate acquisition processes and metabolic reactions to allow insights in nutrient and energy cycling in submarine hardrocks
Research coordinators for this topic:
Lorenz Schwark, ls@gpi.uni-kiel.de
Colin Devey, cdevey@geomar.de
Ruth Schmitz-Streit, rschmitz@ifam.uni-kiel.de
Call
This call is open to postdocs from any country with research topics related to our mission in marine sciences. Women are especially encouraged to apply. "The Future Ocean" actively fosters a culture of diversity and welcomes proposals from all members of the global scientific community. The Cluster offers family-friendly working conditions at all its host institutions and supports new arrivals from foreign countries in the transition process.
Before submitting a proposal, please contact researchers in “The Future Ocean” to discuss your project.
Research Areas and Contacts
Please send your research proposal as a single pdf via email to proposals@futureocean.org. Only complete applications that arrive before February 28th, 2014 will be taken into consideration.
Formal or Administrative Questions Concerning Your Proposal:
PD Dr. Gesche Braker, postdoc-projects@futureocean.org
phone +49 431 880-6550
Diversity and Gender Issues:
Ruth Kamm, rkamm@gb.uni-kiel.de
phone +49 431 880-1833
Living and Working in Germany:
Dr. Nancy Smith, nsmith@futureocean.org
phone +49 431 880-4933
Evaluation Criteria for Proposals:
- 30% past performance as evidenced by CV, publications and recommendations by former supervisors,
- 50% scientific quality of the proposed project,
- 20% strategic match to the Cluster aims (R-Topics, Emerging Research Initiatives, interdisciplinarity and international aspects).
Selection Process
The selection process has two stages. Finalists will be invited to present their project at the Future Ocean Project Conference in Kiel taking place from May 5th-7th , 2014. You will be notified by March 28th, 2014 about the outcome of the first evaluation stage. Final decisions will be based on the merit of the proposal and how well they fit into the overall Future Ocean research strategy.
Please send your research proposal via email to proposals@futureocean.org. Only complete applications that arrive before February 28th, 2014 will be taken into consideration.