Postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d) coral geochemistry co-design and co-creation to inform reef management

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel is a foundation under public law jointly financed by the Federal Republic of Germany (90%) and the State of Schleswig-Holstein (10%). It is one of the internationally leading institutions in the field of marine research.

Through our research and our commitment to the transfer of knowledge and technology, we contribute significantly to the preservation of the function and protection of the ocean for future generations. Coral reefs are threatened by global change and local human activities. Enacting solutions to these problems to protect and rebuild coral reef ecosystems is a decadal grand challenge, especially for communities with coral reefs. Massive coral skeletons record the environmental conditions in which they grew at a sub-seasonal resolution for multiple centuries and the seawater trace metal history from corals has been used to identify periods of increased sediment and pollution input from agriculture, mining, and deforestation. Before using coral geochemistry to document the human impact on coral reefs, this project would follow a new approach by first asking local stake holders: What information from coral geochemistry would be most useful when making decisions to protect their reefs? This co-design would determine the sampling and experiments to be conducted in a location while co-creation will involve local researchers and stakeholders in an iterative research process.

The research unit Paleo Oceanography of the research division Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics is offering a position as a

Postdoctoral researcher (m/f/d)

coral geochemistry co-design and co-creation to inform reef management

starting on September 1st 2026. The position is for 24 months and will be integrated into the DFG-Project SPP 2299 “Tropical Climate Variability & Coral Reefs“.

Job Description

• Organizing non-academic actor engagement and co-design workshops with the local scientific collaborators and then co-designing projects with partners
• Visiting the partner locations and co-creating the research with data collection, water and coral sampling involving local partners
• Generating coral geochemical time series and water trace element data at GEOMAR
• Participation in all SPP2299 “Tropical Climate Variability & Coral Reefs“ meetings and activities
• Publication of research results in the peer reviewed scientific literature

Qualifications

required:

• A doctoral degree in natural sciences
• Experience with coral geochemistry and/or coral reef management 
• Good publication record for career stage
• Willingness and ability to participate in business trips and sea-going research expeditions
• Very good English skills (written and spoken)

desirable:

• Experience with non-academic engagement including outreach
• Spanish and/or Portuguese proficiency
• Field sampling experience
• Willingness to engage with participatory approaches like oral histories
• Good scientific presentation skills in English

At a workplace, directly on the Kiel Fjord with many leisure and recreational opportunities, we offer you:

• Good conditions for work-life balance: We offer, among other things, the possibility of mobile working and individual working time arrangements, vacation courses for the children of our employees, and good support in finding a place in a daycare center at the Kiel site
• Support services for professional and personal life situations
• An exciting work environment with the opportunity to provide important impetus for the development of sustainable solutions
• Exciting topics in an international environment
• Work in the field of marine and climate research, a forward-looking area with social significance
• 30 vacation days + additional time off at Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
• Company pension plan and capital-forming benefits

The position is available for a funding period until August 31st, 2028. The salary depends on qualification and could be up to the class 13 TVöD Bund of the German tariff for public employees. This is a full-time position and cannot be split.

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel seeks to increase the proportion of female scientists and explicitly encourages qualified female academics to apply. GEOMAR is an equal opportunity employer and encourages scientists with disabilities to apply. Qualified disabled applicants will receive preference in the application process.

Please send your application for this post not later than July 27^th 2026 under the following link:

Online application

As soon as the selection procedure has finished, all your application data will be removed according to data protection regulation.

For further information regarding the position and research unit please contact Dr. Ed Hathorne (ehathorne(at)geomar.de).

We will answer all your questions if you send us an e-mail to bewerbung(at)geomar.de. In doing so, please refer to the keyword “INFORM”.

For further information on GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel or the Helmholtz Association, please visit www.geomar.de or www.helmholtz.de.

GEOMAR is committed to an objective and non-discriminatory personnel selection. Our job advertisements address all people. We expressly renounce the submission of application photos.