PhD Position,
Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in
(salary level TV-L E13, 75%)
The Institute of Planetology at the University of Münster, Germany, is seeking a highly skilled and motivated researcher to carry out a 3 year PhD in planetary science, starting from 1 April 2020, and funded at 75% (E13 TV-L) level.
The PhD candidate will be in a key position to improve the understanding of regolith evolution and thus enable new analysis of images returned by spacecraft from, for example, the Moon, asteroids and Mars. Regolith is the outermost layer of most planetary surfaces in the inner Solar System. It is formed by rock fragmentation and mixing. Understanding the nature, origin and evolution of regolith is paramount for a wide range of research fields, including volatiles accumulation and organic matter preservation. The investigated characteristics of a rock-rich surface will also serve engineering purposes for rovers and landers mission.
The activities of the PhD student will be:
- the development of a new numerical model to describe the process of small impact (<1m) bombardment on planetary surfaces and the evolution of boulder-rich surfaces
- use of the model developed to analyze observations of planetary surfaces provided by spacecraft on planetary bodies including the Moon and near-Earth asteroids
Requirements:
- proven and in-depth expertise in programming (e.g. Matlab)
- experience with remote sensing data or software
- master’s degree in geophysics, geology, geo-informatics, or equivalent
- good written and spoken english. German knowledge is desired but not a requisite.
The University of Münster is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing the proportion of women academics. Consequently, we actively encourage applications by women. Female candidates with equivalent qualifications and academic achievements will be preferentially considered within the framework of the legal possibilities. We also welcome applications from candidates with severe disabilities. Disabled candidates with equivalent qualifications will be preferentially considered.
Applications should include a CV, motivation letter, assessment reports for previous projects (e.g. bachelor and master’s theses), academic transcripts, and contact details for two referees. Please send all documents in electronic form, by 15 February 2020 to:
Dr. Ottaviano Ruesch
Institut für Planetologie
Wilhelm-Klemm-Straße 10
48149 Münster - Germany
e-mail: ottaviano.ruesch@uni-muenster.de