The successful applicant will play a key role in the TroPeaCC project, as a modeller to develop the land component of the UK Earth System Model to make future projections of the fate of tropical peatlands under climate change and their role in the global carbon cycle. This post is available immediately until 31st January 2026.
In this post, you will extend the group’s newly developed model of peatland ecosystems to the tropics.
Specifically, you will compile existing data and run JULES (Joint UK Land Environment Simulator), to evaluate simulations of ecosystem fluxes of energy, water and carbon at the site level across multiple tropical locations. You will parameterise the model and use it to make future projections of tropical peatland carbon balance and quantify the uncertainty.
You will be expected to gather, handle and analyse complex datasets, write up results for publication and presenting the work in conferences, i.e. you will be expected to be part of the team that brings the TroPeaCC project to a successful completion.

Main duties and accountabilities

1. To undertake research as appropriate to the field of study. The responsibilities may include all or some of the following:
• Acting as principal investigator on research projects;
• Developing research objectives, projects and proposals;
• Conducting individual or collaborative research projects;
• Identifying sources of funding and contributing to the process of securing funds;
• Extending, transforming and applying knowledge acquired from scholarship to research and
appropriate external activities;
• Writing or contributing to publications or disseminating research findings using media appropriate to the discipline;
• Making presentations at conferences or exhibiting work in other appropriate events;
• Assessing, interpreting and evaluating outcomes of research;
• Developing new concepts and ideas to extend intellectual understanding;
• Resolving problems of meeting research objectives and deadlines;
• Developing ideas for generating income and promoting research area;
• Developing ideas for application of research outcomes;
• Deciding on /following research programmes and methodologies, often in collaboration with colleagues and sometimes subject to the approval of the head of the research programme on fundamental issues.

2. To contribute to teaching and learning programmes in the School and to supervise postgraduate research students.

3. To act as research team leader including:
• Mentoring colleagues with less experience and advising on their professional development;
• Coaching and supporting colleagues in developing their research techniques;
• Supervising the work of others, for example in research teams or projects;
• Developing productive working relationships with other members of staff;
• Co-ordinating the work of colleagues to ensure equitable access to resources and facilities;
• Dealing with standard problems and help colleagues to resolve their concerns about progress in research.

4. To routinely communicate complex and conceptual ideas to those with limited knowledge as well as to peers using high level skills and a range of media and to present the results of scientific research to sponsors and at conferences.

5. As determined by the nature of the project and at the direction of the PI, to plan, co-ordinate and
implement research programme activity including:

• Managing the use of research resources and ensuring that effective use is made of them;
• Monitoring and reporting on the use of research budgets;
• Helping to plan and implement commercial and consultancy activities;
• Where appropriate, to plan and manage own consultancy assignments.

This job description summarises the main duties and accountabilities of the post and is not comprehensive:
the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties of similar level and responsibility. Please visit the Human Resources website to view the Research Fellow role profiles.

The successful candidate will be generating records of seawater pH/atmospheric CO2 with the boron isotope proxy on foraminifera and fossil corals, and will constrain seawater temperature, sea level and marine carbon cycle with a combination of stable isotopes and elemental ratios. The post doc will obtain training on Paleogene and Neogene foraminifera taxonomy, and will be given the opportunity to contribute to the development of new analytical methods for isotope geochemistry. Responsibilities also include clean lab analytical chemistry (inorganic), processing of sediment cores and foraminifera picking with the team’s student support. The post doc will be preparing and analyzing marine carbonates (corals and foraminifera) for isotopes and trace elements using the state of the art analytical laboratories at GEOMAR, organizing and data archiving work, statistical processing, interpreting and publishing in peer reviewed journals, and disseminating results in meetings and conferences. The post doc will have assistance by the team’s PI and technical support and will oversee the student helpers who assist in sediment core processing and foraminifera picking.

The postdoctoral project will focus on investigating the link between temporal changes in climate, biodiversity and ecosystems in the Greenland and North Atlantic regions, with special focus on the carbon cycle and the burial and fate of carbon in the sediments. Specific tasks will include the quantification of carbon sequestration in sea-floor sediments across space and time and to investigate links between climatic and environmental conditions and carbon burial. Other questions to address include the role of the benthic fauna in carbon sequestration and identifying and distinguishing the various sources of carbon input to the sediments. The successful candidate will be investigating marine sediment cores using tools from organic and inorganic geochemistry, micropaleontology, and sedimentology. Within the Sea-Quester project's framework, there is considerable freedom for the postdoctoral researcher to develop the project with the Aarhus University hosts.