Institute of Geological Sciences
Starting date: 1 April
Duration: Fully-funded for 4 years
Job Description
As a key member of a research team, your primary role will be to conduct fundamental research, data acquisition, and data analysis using advanced imaging techniques. We offer flexibility in achieving the project's goals, allowing you to tailor your focus based on your skills and interests. You will have the opportunity to:
- Obtain high-resolution data from sediment cores.
- Run laboratory incubation experiments to understand the stability of sedimentary signals.
- Participate in fieldwork.
- Focus on applying advanced data science approaches, including supervised and unsupervised pixel clustering and neural networks, to discover unique "fingerprints" of past cold and warm climates.
The project is structured into three main work packages, guiding you from initial data acquisition to final fingerprinting. A research assistant will support you with imaging methods and/or data science.
Requirements
We are seeking a highly motivated and inquisitive candidate with a Master's degree in Earth Sciences or a related field. We strongly encourage applications from diverse academic backgrounds, including those with experience in:
- Biogeochemistry
- Limnology
- Sedimentology
- Environmental research
- Ecology
- Hydrology
- Data science
- Image processing
While data science experience is advantageous, a passion for hands-on analytical work, fieldwork, and a willingness to learn advanced data science techniques is paramount. We value strong analytical skills and a collaborative spirit.
Your Profile:
You are an independent, curious, creative, and ambitious team player who enjoys interdisciplinary science, learning, and mastering new skills.
You possess:
- An interest or experience in advanced imaging techniques.
- An interest or experience in data science.
- A good ability to work independently and as part of a team to formulate and tackle research problems.
- Strong written and oral communication skills in English.
Diversity Commitment
We are committed to increasing diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in geology and especially encourage applications from underrepresented groups.
We Offer
- An exciting interdisciplinary project that bridges paleoclimatology and cutting-edge data science, hosted at the Institute of Geological Sciences and the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern.
- A stimulating and supportive research environment that actively acknowledges multi-dimensional diversity.
- Access to state-of-the-art laboratory facilities at the University of Bern.
- Opportunities for international collaborations, conferences, and workshop participation.
- Professional and personal development through specialized training in data science.
- A structured framework designed for a PhD student's success, including a research assistant to help with methods and complementary projects to confirm reproducibility and generalize datasets.
- Integration into the Sedimentary Geochemistry unit of the Institute of Geological Sciences. For more information about the group, please visit: Sedimentary Geochemistry Research.
- Enrollment in the renowned OCCR climate sciences graduate school. A competitive SNSF-funded PhD student salary starting at approximately 50,000 CHF gross annually for up to 4 years.
To apply, apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.
For any scientific inquiries, please contact Petra Zahajská at petra.zahajska@unibe.ch.
The application deadline is December 15th, 2025. Interviews will be conducted online during the second half of January 2026.