Postdoctoral Fellowship (22) at University of Hamburg, Germany

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

Doctoral candidates are members of the structured doctoral program of the School of Integrated Climate and Earth System Sciences (SICSS), which provides high-quality, interdisciplinary, and internationally oriented training.

We are seeking a motivated PhD researcher to investigate how extreme climate events, especially droughts, affect crop and livestock production in Namibia and other southern African regions. The project will use biophysical process models to assess climate impacts and adaptation options, and will link the results to a global agricultural sector model with enhanced resolution for southern Africa.

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

The position is part of the proposed project “Benchmarking and Digital Twin Integration for Seismic Wavefield Analysis” and belongs to the joint project PREDICT-NN “Newtonian Noise Cancelling Headphones” in the scope of R&D for the Einstein Telescope in Germany. This project aims to develop advanced methods for characterizing and mitigating Newtonian Noise (NN) by integrating machine learning, high-performance computing, and novel sensor technologies. The successful candidate will join a dynamic research environment, contributing to the development of next-generation seismic monitoring systems and supporting the Einstein Telescope’s sensitivity goals.

Within PREDICT-NN, this position will focus on developing and validating a benchmarking workflow for seismic wavefield models using a digital twin of the Einstein Telescope. The candidate will quantify how subsurface heterogeneities, such as soil properties, geological layers, and structural complexities, affect Newtonian Noise (NN) variability. Key tasks include conducting numerical simulations to assess the sensitivity of NN to subsurface structures, analyzing model performance, and integrating findings into a digital twin framework. The role involves collaboration with researchers at the University of Hamburg and international partners to validate models against real-world data from testbeds such as the Black Forest Observatory and WAVE (https://wave-hamburg.eu/), as well as contributing to best practices and open-source tools for benchmarking.

Duties include teaching and research in the respective department or institute. Research associates may also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications as well as acquire teaching experience. These duties are intended to promote academic achievement. Therefore, at least one-third of set working hours will be made available for the associate’s own academic work.

The research group works at the forefront of financial economics. Current research interests include, among others, the role of disagreement in asset pricing, the effects of climate risks on financial markets, and the application of machine learning methods in asset pricing. 

The postdoctoral researcher will become part of a vibrant, internationally connected research team with a strong focus on high-quality academic work. The position offers an excellent environment for developing an independent research profile, with intensive support for the candidate’s postdoctoral project and close collaboration within the group and its international network. The teaching load is 5 hours per week.

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

The position is part of the project “Low-level clouds” of the cluster of excellence “Climate, Climatic Change and Society II”, which aims to better constrain the response and climate impact of stratocumulus clouds. This position will focus on small-scale cloud-turbulence interaction and its adjustment to global warming. The work includes theoretical analysis and direct numerical simulations.

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities.

The successful candidate will investigate the overall economic costs associated with extreme weather events, including direct, indirect, and cascading impacts, under different climate futures. They will analyze how differing regional climate risks or extreme weather events can influence production losses and patterns of investment and examine how this could affect optimal adaptation and mitigation policies in an integrated assessment context. The role also involves taking a leading role in the development and refinement of macroeconomic models that incorporate these behavioral responses and impacts. Overall, the position aims to improve macroeconomic models and deepen our understanding of the economic consequences of climate change and extreme weather events, providing valuable insights for policy and decision-making.

In the first 8 months duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities.

For the remaining time duties include teaching and research in the respective department or institute. Research associates may also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications as well as acquire teaching experience. These duties are intended to promote academic achievement. Therefore, at least one-third of set working hours will be made available for the associate’s own academic work.

The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the department’s research and teaching mission through the following activities:

• conduct independent and collaborative research with Prof. Dr. Anca Balietti in behavioral economics, with applications to environmental, development, political economy, and public economics topics
• design and implement online, lab, and/or field experiments, and contribute to high-quality research output for publication
• teach 5 hours in the Economics programs within the faculty (teaching will be starting in the second section of this position)
• develop and write competitive research grant proposals, including collaborative funding applications

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

The Cluster of Excellence “Quantum Universe” performs research to understand mass and gravity at the interface between quantum physics and cosmology. The research team includes leading scientists from mathematics, particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology at the University of Hamburg and DESY.

We offer a position to pursue searches for particle Dark Matter through a combination of instrumentation development and data analysis, including low radioactivity methods and machine learning techniques. We contribute to the DarkSide-20k and IAXO experiments, and we play a leading role in the DarkSPHERE collaboration – exploring uncharted parameter space in sub-GeV particle dark matter using novel gaseous detectors. The successful candidate will be involved in all relevant experimental aspects. They will learn and experience a broad range of state-of-the-art particle physics techniques and skills. The positions will be located in Hamburg, however, travel at international research facilities, e. g. CERN, SNOLAB, LNGS, and the Boulby Underground Laboratory, is foreseen.

Doctoral research associates will become members of the Quantum Universe Research School (QURS), which provides academic and key skills training, as well as career planning support. In addition, they will receive individual budgets to facilitate the attendance of summer schools and conferences, and to support other educational measures. Additional travel money for project-specific duties will be provided by the hosting research groups. Doctoral researchers may participate in teaching at the University and in the organization of the Cluster via an early career council.

You have completed an outstanding doctorate (upon signing the contract) and have a strong research profile in theoretical philosophy, demonstrated by publications (commensurate with your experience). You are now pursuing a project in theoretical philosophy that addresses a topic or area that meaningfully complements research and teaching at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Hamburg.

You are also willing to engage actively in teaching (including offering courses beyond your specialisation) and to contribute to academic self-governance (such as occasionally serving on committees). You are either proficient in German or willing to acquire the necessary language skills to teach in German after two years.

The position is part of the proposed project “Deployment and optimisation of compact local sensors” and belongs to the joint project “Challenges in Interferometer Noise and Control” in the scope of R&D for the Einstein Telescope in Germany in the so-called Preparatory Program. The joint project focuses on the laser interferometers, the core of the Einstein Telescope. Their operation, control and noise performance not only determine the astrophysical reach of the observatory, but also drive its design on all relevant scales. To realise the ambitious sensitivity goals of the Einstein Telescope, major challenges in noise and control must be overcome in order to realize the actual observatory design.

In recent years the team in Hamburg has developed a compact sensor scheme based on deep-frequency modulation interferometry (DFMI) and an optical sensor called COBRI for the local readout of suspended test masses to minimize low-frequency control noise. Within the project “Deployment and optimisation of compact local sensors” we will ensure that COBRI/DFMI sensing will be mature and ready for installation in ET and that reliable noise and linearity models are available.

The research of this position focuses on the design and implementation of a three-signal test set-up to characterize and optimize the linearity of DFMI/COBRI sensing and absolute ranging readout.

Responsibilities include to develop the design of an optical experiment, the implementation of the opto-mechanical set-up in our in-house vacuum testbed, the optimization of the realtime signal processing using FPGAs and machine learning, testing methods for the linearization of the laser frequency modulation and to study the combination of sensing signals and geometry optimisations in coordination with other joint project partners and partners in the ET collaboration.

The position will be situated in the research group for gravitational wave detection at the University of Hamburg. The group studies metrology and develops instrumentation for ground and space-based detectors like the Einstein Telescope and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) with a focus on laser interferometry, inertial sensing, seismic isolation and digital readout and control.

The position is part of the proposed project “Modelling and design tools review & support” and belongs to the joint project “Challenges in Interferometer Noise and Control” in the scope of R&D for the Einstein Telescope in Germany in the so-called Preparatory Program. The joint project focuses on the laser interferometers, the core of the Einstein Telescope. Their operation, control and noise performance not only determine the astrophysical reach of the observatory, but also drive its design on all relevant scales. To realise the ambitious sensitivity goals of the Einstein Telescope, major challenges in noise and control must be overcome in order to realize the actual observatory design.

This position for a research associate or a research software engineer will support the efforts of the work package “Modelling and Design Tools” of the interferometer division of the Einstein Telescope Collaboration Instrument Science Board.

The research of this position focuses on establishing and supporting review procedures for modelling, design and analysis of the ET instrument. The work shall also enable repeatable and traceable analysis of instrument design with a detector repository that stores all critical parameters with a unique version identifier. Finally, the research will focus on improving the interoperability and functions of existing modelling and design tools for e.g. noise analysis, optical design, control design and dynamic mechanical models.

Responsibilities include to develop, set-up and maintain a set of repositories and procedures, to support scientific code reviews, to develop and test scientific software, to implement structures for the ET instrument design following the FAIR principles and to, generally, support the development of a full technical design report for the Einstein Telescope. The position will coordinate closely with other joint project partners and partners in the ET collaboration and the ET organisation.

The position is part of the proposed project “Deployment and optimisation of compact local sensors” and belongs to the joint project “Challenges in Interferometer Noise and Control” in the scope of R&D for the Einstein Telescope in Germany in the so-called Preparatory Program. The joint project focuses on the laser interferometers, the core of the Einstein Telescope. Their operation, control and noise performance not only determine the astrophysical reach of the observatory, but also drive its design on all relevant scales. To realise the ambitious sensitivity goals of the Einstein Telescope, major challenges in noise and control must be overcome in order to realize the actual observatory design. 

In recent years the team in Hamburg has developed a compact sensor scheme based on deep-frequency modulation interferometry (DFMI) and an optical sensor called COBRI for the local readout of suspended test masses to minimize low-frequency control noise. Within the project “Deployment and optimisation of compact local sensors” we will ensure that COBRI/DFMI sensing will be mature and ready for installation in ET and that reliable noise and linearity models are available.

The research of this position focuses on implementing COBRI/DFMI sensing for a set of suspensions in the ET Pathfinder gravitational wave detector prototype facility in Maastricht.

Responsibilities include to plan the integration of the sensors into ET Pathfinder, optical and mechanical design, preparing, testing and commissioning of the sensing architecture, the integration of the sensing scheme into the ET Pathfinder global control system and studying the noise behavior of the local and the global system and coordination with the ET Pathfinder team, other joint project partners and partners in the ET collaboration.

(18) Postdoctoral Fellowship Position

Postdoc Fellowship Position summary/title: Research Associate for the Project “Social constructions of climate moods” in CLICCS § 28 Subsection 3 HmbHG

Deadline : 15.05.2026

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Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue further academic qualifications outside of their work responsibilities. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

The position is part of the project “High precision ground motion, imaging, and monitoring with rotational motions” and belongs to the research unit “RING: Rotations IN Physics, Geophysics, and Geodesy”, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The RING research unit aims at establishing next-generation ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs) as key instruments for geodesy, physics and geophysics, enabling high-precision measurements of Earth’s rotation on both global and local scales, including seismic rotation sensing and applications thereof. The successful candidate for this position can pursue a doctoral degree in Geophysics at the University of Hamburg, and will join the RING research unit.

Within the project “Seismic Interferometry of Rotations: Wavefields and Sources”, we will advance seismic interferometry by developing and applying 6 degrees-of-freedom (6 DoF) methods to characterize seismic sources, estimate correlation wavefields, and quantify their composition. The research will leverage data from ring lasers and portable 6 DoF sensors to introduce a new methodological framework for Earth imaging and monitoring. Responsibilities include designing and validating novel correlation wavefield fingerprinting techniques that exploit all 36 cross-components of 6 DoF data, performing source characterization of dominant noise sources such as ocean microseisms and urban noise using 6 DoF simulations and field data, and developing a software toolbox to standardize and disseminate these methods. The position will also contribute to the deployment and analysis of Array-of-Array (AoA) experiments at the Wettzell ring laser site and the DESY campus in Hamburg, generating 6 DoF datasets to test and validate interferometric methods and demonstrate their potential for large-scale structural imaging, subsurface monitoring, and noise discrimination.

Duties primarily include research. Research associates may also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications. They may also pursue doctoral studies outside of working duties.

The position will be situated in the seismology group at the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Hamburg. The group specializes in ambient noise seismology and the use of innovative seismic instrumentation. Their research focuses on understanding seismic noise sources, monitoring structural changes in Earth materials and beyond. They apply advanced sensors to investigate the near subsurface and use environmental seismology to monitor environmental processes.

The successful candidate for this position can pursue a doctoral degree in Geophysics at the University of Hamburg. The research focuses on modeling seismic wave propagation and wave-structure interaction in large scientific infrastructures, such as particle accelerators and detection facilities. Responsibilities include analyzing in-situ data from an extensive DAS network to understand local seismic wave propagation effects, developing numerical models of seismic wave transmission through heterogeneous structures, and investigating how seismic wavefields couple into large infrastructures. The candidate will compare real-world seismic measurements with model predictions to validate and refine the simulations. Additionally, the project explores the potential use of DAS technology for structural health monitoring, aiming to support damage assessment and operational reliability of large scientific facilities. 

The successful candidate can become a member of the School of Integrated Climate and Earth System Sciences (SICSS), which provides academic and soft skills training, as well as career planning support. They will join Hamburg WAVE initiative, and, if desired, the LIGO collaboration and the Einstein Telescope collaboration and attend international conferences.

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications.

The main responsibility will be to conduct an ethnographic study investigating indigenous knowledge of soils and their susceptibility to climate change in Namibia. The candidate is expected to draw on their prior ethnographic experience in Namibia for this work. The successful candidate will also be expected to contribute to joint, interdisciplinary publications within the team that address the overarching aim of investigating the various ways in which climate change is perceived and experienced.