GFZ is Germany's national centre for solid Earth research, advancing the understanding of dynamic processes to address global challenges, from mitigating the impacts of natural hazards and sustaining our habitat amid global change to responsibly managing georesources. It is part of the Helmholtz Association, the largest German scientific organisation, with around 1,200 employees and ca. 500 guest researchers contributing to the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment.
For the section Space Physics and Space Weather (department "Geodesy"), GFZ is looking for one PhD candidate. The section works on understanding the dynamical evolution of the hazardous space radiation environment and developing tools for the prediction of the adverse effects of the space environment using satellite observations, physics-based numerical models, machine learning, and data assimilation.
Responsibilities:
- Process, validate, and analyse large-scale GNSS-TEC time series, including advanced data cleaning, simulation of observational errors, and integration of auxiliary data (e.g., global earthquake catalogues, GNSS metadata, and solar/geomagnetic indices)
- Investigate ionospheric TEC anomalies to robustly distinguish coseismic disturbances from natural variability, using statistical analysis, spectral methods, and function approximation techniques to quantify coseismic acoustic wave parameters
- Develop scientific visualisations of the results
- Conduct scientific research in the field of space physics
- Attend scientific meetings, including international conferences, and present results
- Write and submit scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals
Essential qualifications: A Master's degree in physics, computer science, mathematics or related natural sciences; very good programming skills, preferably in Python or Matlab; excellent communication skills; fluency in English (written and oral). Desirable: experience in data analysis and scientific programming; knowledge of space physics or space weather.
Start date: as soon as possible. Fixed-term: 36 months. Salary group 13 according to TVoD Bund. Working hours: part-time 75% (currently 29.25 h/week). Place of work: Potsdam.
Closing date: 6 September 2026
HOW TO APPLY:
Apply by 6th September 2026 using the online application form only (https://gfz.concludis.de/bewerber/landingpage.php?prj=580P11391&b=12&lang=en_GB&ie=1&oid=). Required documents: CV including list of computer skills and programming languages as well as level of experience; letter of motivation; grades; transcripts and certificates for your master's degree. Reference Number 11391. For queries regarding the field of activity, contact Dr. Nicole Burdanowitz (nicole.burdanowitz@gfz.de) or Prof. Dr. Yuri Shprits (yuri.shprits@gfz.de). General questions about the application process: +49 (0) 331-6264-28787.