Do you want to contribute to our understanding of the climate system? Are you interested in interdisciplinary PhD research in biology, chemistry, and geology? Please apply for this PhD position at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU).
Location: AMSTERDAM
FTE: 1.0
JOB DESCRIPTION
This PhD position is funded through the NWO VENI grant MACRO. In this 4-year research project, you work on improving the accuracy of reconstructing climate variability in past greenhouse periods from fossil shells. The shells of mollusks (e.g. clams, mussels and oysters) are a unique archive of past climate and environmental change. During their lifetime, mollusks record short-term changes in their environment in their shells, which grow layer by layer (like tree rings). If we can decode this climate information from fossil shells that lived during periods of warm climates, we can understand the impact of global warming on short-timescale events such as seasonal changes and even weather. However, the composition of mollusk shells also depends on the composition of the seawater in which the animals live. In this project, you measure the composition of small droplets of “fossil water” which are incorporated into fossil shells. This fossil water allows us to reconstruct the composition of past oceans. With this knowledge, you make our climate reconstructions more accurate. The improved reconstructions help us further develop climate models that project the impact of future climate change on extreme seasonality and extreme weather events.
To develop this brand-new technique for analyzing fossil water measurements, you: 1. Analyze fossil water in shells from wild mollusks from different climate zones in the modern world. You study the relationship between shell and water composition and climate. 2. Grow living mollusks under controlled conditions in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). You analyze their shells to better understand how the fossil water locked in the shells relates to the composition of the seawater. 3. Apply your new knowledge about the composition of modern mollusk shells to measure and interpret the fossil water composition of fossil shells from past greenhouse periods. An important aspect of the project is applying the information gained from testing this novel method on modern mollusk shells to better interpret the data from fossil specimens. This makes this project an exciting interdisciplinary research opportunity, combining (marine) biology, geology and (inorganic) chemistry!
Your duties
- you co-develop and independently carry out stable isotope and trace element measurements in the labs of VU
- you manage mollusk growth experiments
- you present your results at scientific conferences and publish your results in scientific literature
- you contribute to teaching practicals, field- and labwork and you supervise BSc and MSc student projects (roughly 10% of your time)
REQUIREMENTS
- you have a MSc degree in Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science or equivalent.
- you have affinity with (geo)chemical lab work and biological experiments working with live mollusks
- you have previous laboratory experience and experience with programming languages (Matlab, R, Python) is an advantage
- you are able to work independently, but you are also eager to contribute to an interdisciplinary research team
- you have excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English
WHAT ARE WE OFFERING?
A challenging position in a socially involved organization. The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel and amounts €2,541 (PhD) per month during the first year and increases to €3,539 (PhD) per month during the fourth year, based on a full-time employment. The job profile: is based on the university job ranking system and is vacant for at least 1.0 FTE.
The appointment will initially be for 1 year. After a satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, the contract will be extended for a duration of 4 years.
Additionally, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam offers excellent fringe benefits and various schemes and regulations to promote a good work/life balance, such as:
- 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus,
- solid pension scheme (ABP),
- optional model for designing a personalized benefits package,
- space for personal development
ABOUT VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM
The ambition of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is clear: to contribute to a better world through outstanding education and ground-breaking research. We strive to be a university where personal development and commitment to society play a leading role. A university where people from different disciplines and backgrounds collaborate to achieve innovations and to generate new knowledge. Our teaching and research encompass the entire spectrum of academic endeavor – from the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences through to the life sciences and the medical sciences.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is home to more than 31,000 students. We employ over 5,000 individuals. The VU campus is easily accessible and located in the heart of Amsterdam’s Zuidas district, a truly inspiring environment for teaching and research.
Diversity
We are an inclusive university community. Diversity is one of our most important values. We believe that engaging in international activities and welcoming students and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds enhances the quality of our education and research. We are always looking for people who can enrich our world with their own unique perspectives and experiences.
The Faculty of Science
Working at the Faculty of Science means working together with students, PhD candidates and scientists who are focused on their discipline, yet also have a broad view of the world. We are proud of the collegial working environment within the faculty, which is characterised by an ambitious and pragmatic attitude with commitment to the bigger picture. At the Faculty of Science, scientists and students work on fundamental and complex social issues for a sustainable and healthy future. From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, from genetics to pharmaceuticals and from molecules to the moon: our teaching and research cover the full breadth of the natural sciences. Scientific teaching and research is highly experimental, technical, computational and interdisciplinary in nature. This is why we collaborate extensively with leading research institutes and industry. The faculty has over 11,000 students studying across 40 educational programmes and employs over 1,600 staff spread over 10 scientific departments, making us the largest science faculty in the Netherlands.
About the department, institute and project
The department of Earth Sciences (VU-ES) studies all aspects of the dynamics of the Earth with an integrated approach to quantify the interplay and feedback mechanisms between the interior, surface and atmosphere of the Earth and how these processes lead to risks and opportunities for society, the economy, and the environment. A defining characteristic in our research and teaching is a multi-disciplinary approach that combines expertise from natural sciences with knowledge from the fields of economics, e-Science and geography.
This position will be supervised by Niels de Winter (VU-ES), Jeroen van der Lubbe (VU-ES), Pieter Vroon (VU-ES), Rob Witbaard (NIOZ) and Martin Ziegler (Utrecht University). A substantial part of the project will be carried out at the marine research institute NIOZ. Moreover, the PhD candidate will be embedded in the growing carbonate chemistry and paleoclimate team, an interdisciplinary group of scientists using geochemical measurements and climate models to better understand the dynamics of our climate in the past, present, and future. All members will contribute to making this a vibrant and impactful community.
APPLICATION
Are you interested in this position? Please apply via the application button and upload your curriculum vitae and one-page cover letter until 10/09/2023. The job interviews are planned for the first week of October.
Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.
Applications received by e-mail will not be processed.
Vacancy questions
If you have any questions regarding this vacancy, you may contact:
Name: Niels J. de Winter
Position: Niels J. de Winter
E-mail: n.j.de.winter@vu.nl
Telephone:
No agencies