With about 15,000 students, more than 300 professorships and around 160 degree programs, the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau is the technical university of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. As a place of top international research, it offers excellent working conditions and career opportunities. Those who study, research or work at RPTU experience a cosmopolitan environment and shape the future.

As part of the DFG-funded project Energy Structures: Energy Sustains Dissipative Structures in Soil Systems (), the RPTU in Landau and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig jointly offer a PhD position.

Place of work: 50% at RPTU in Landau (32.5%) and 50% at UFZ in Leipzig (32.5%), according to agreement and project requirements

Your area of responsibility:

The aim of the project is to understand how and under which conditions carbon and energy are transformed and stored in soils. Through incubation experiments and thermodynamic modelling, you will quantify matter and energy fluxes and characterize their efficiency and limitations. In doing so, you will investigate how energy inputs from organic substrates affect dissipative processes in soil microbial communities and whether dissipative structures develop in soils that govern matter and energy fluxes and thereby promote soil carbon storage.

To achieve this aim, you will primarily work with a newly developed calorespirometric system at RPTU in Landau, which you will also further develop. In Leipzig, you will work with a newly developed plug-flow reaction calorimeter at UFZ. The measurements will be complemented by key chemical and biological analyses of the soil and its microbial community, including isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC), thermogravimetry–differential scanning calorimetry–quadrupole mass spectrometry (TG-DSC-QMS), phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analyses, elemental analyses and molecular biological analyses.

The project is part of the DFG Priority Programme SPP 2322 SoilSystems (). You will benefit from the interdisciplinary collaboration within the programme's nationwide research consortium. Close collaboration, in particular with Trier University, is also planned.

We offer:

Top-level research at the interface between research centre and university, with an excellent reputation nationally and internationally
The opportunity to benefit from the expertise of two research institutions
Excellent technical infrastructure and equipment
Work in interdisciplinary and international teams
Excellent connections to national and international research networks
Comprehensive support and optimal training courses by our graduate schools (HIGRADE at UFZ and ZGaPL at RPTU)
Salary according to the German public sector pay scale TVöD/TV-L, pay grade E13 (65%)

Your requirements profile:

Master's degree or equivalent in soil science, environmental sciences, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, or a related field
Strong interest in complex and interdisciplinary processes in soil systems
Interest, willingness and ability to integrate new scientific concepts into soil science research
Prior experience in one or more of the following areas is an advantage, but not a prerequisite: soil science, environmental microbiology, calorimetry, and thermodynamics; Willingness to expand your expertise into complementary fields is expected
Curiosity and openness to learning new methods, critically evaluating and further developing existing approaches, and exploring new methodological solutions
Willingness to independently learn new methods, troubleshoot and develop creative solutions to methodological challenges
Openness to incorporating modelling approaches and aspects of microbial ecology into your research
Willingness to work in an interdisciplinary and international team
Very good written and spoken English skills

More informations given on our homepage:

We look forward to receiving your detailed application (CV, references, etc.) by 15.11.2026 at the latest.

The job interviews are scheduled to take place in calendar weeks 48 and 49.

Research Associate (m/f/d)

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