Job description

In the frame of the Synergy Project WHIRLS funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the research unit Ocean Dynamics of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel offers a PhD position in biogeochemical modelling. WHIRLS researches the role of ocean fine-scale processes on climate and ecosystems. The focus is on the Agulhas Current System around South Africa as a global hotspot of eddy activity, ocean-atmosphere heat exchange, and marine productivity. WHIRLS consists of 4 partners in France, Sweden, South Africa, and Germany.

The candidate will contribute to the numerical modelling, the analysis, and the interpretation of marine biogeochemistry model simulations based on NEMO. The main emphasis is on the role of the (sub)mesoscale dynamics in biogeochemical processes in the Agulhas region in the context of a changing climate. Fine-scale ocean processes alter nutrient and oxygen fluxes and budgets, shape ocean productivity, and modulate the ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon, with significant climate implications. The PhD candidate will investigate these processes with a range of global ocean biogeochemistry model configurations with enhanced horizontal resolution in the Agulhas region. The precise scientific and methodological focus of the project will be developed jointly with the PhD candidate, depending on scientific interests and strengths. The candidate will work in a team of scientists and numerical modellers at GEOMAR, also in the framework of international collaborators within WHIRLS.

Qualifications:

Required:

  • Completed master studies in oceanography, marine sciences, climate science, or another related field
  • Experience in the analysis of data sets using programming languages (e.g. Python)
  • Very good command of English (oral and written)

Additonal skills and experiences that are advantagous:

  • Experience in ocean dynamics
  • Experience in ocean and/or biogeochemical modelling
  • Experience in programming (e.g. FORTRAN)
  • Experience in the analysis of large data sets and/or the development of diagnostics
  • Ability to work in a team, open-mindedness, and scientific creativity

Application deadline Please send your application not later than 19th April 2026

More details and application procedure: https://www.geomar.de/en/karriere/job-single-en/doktorandin-m-w-d-im-bereich-biogeochemische-modellierung