All Things Urban

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of Europe’s top universities. It is committed to excellence in research and teaching, interdisciplinary education and the active promotion of promising young scientists. The university also forges strong links with companies and scientific institutions across the world. TUM was one of the first universities in Germany to be named a University of Excellence. Moreover, TUM regularly ranks among the best European universities in international rankings.

The Terrestrial Ecology Research Group at the TUM School of Science in Freising is recruiting a postdoctoral Research Assistant (m/f/d) to work in the EU-funded research project ECOLOPES, limited to 24 months (100%, approx. 40.1h/week). ECOLOPES (www.ecolopes.eu) is an innovative HORIZON 2020 funded research project proposing a radical change for city development: instead of minimizing the negative impact of urbanization on nature, we aim at urbanization to be planned and designed such that nature - including humans - can co-evolve within the city. We envisage a new integrated ecosystem approach to architecture that focuses equally on humans, plants, animals, and associated organisms such as microbiota. ECOLOPES will provide the technology that will help to achieve this vision.

The advertised position will be critical in implementing the modeling of population dynamics and resource requirements of animals into the computational architectural tools developed in ECOLOPES.

Your task will be to model the animal component of the ecolope, i.e. the multi-species living envelope of the new type of building envisioned by the ECOLOPES project. The ecolope will enable the placement and development of soil, growth, and immigration of plants, settlement and reproduction of animals, and the build-up of a healthy microbiota. At its initial stage, the ecolope will be modeled as a seeded substrate where vegetation will develop according to abiotic and biotic conditions, succession dynamics, and management. The development of plant communities will open the ecolope to animal colonization and population dynamics.

The postdoc will dynamically model the colonization and opportunities of settlement of representative animal species on the ecolope, according to regional conditions, and abiotic and biotic conditions on the ecolope, likely using the individual-based modeling platform Rangeshifter. A phase of validation, with existing data or data to be collected, is envisioned. Ultimately, the postdoc will work on the coupling of the animal model together with the vegetation and architectural models. The postdoc will also be in charge of coordination tasks of the project.

• University degree (M.Sc.) and Ph.D. in ecology, biology, environmental planning, landscape ecology, or a comparable field of study
• Experience in the modeling of populations
• Interest and experience in urban ecology welcome
• Experience in using RangeShifter welcome
• Interested in interdisciplinary approaches
• Good language skills (English)
• Ability to work in a team

We offer an interesting and challenging job in a motivated international team and in the dynamic Chair of Terrestrial Ecology, in TUM (Freising). Cooperation partners in ECOLOPES are the Technical University of Munich in Germany, the University of Genua in Italy, the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, TECHNION in Haifa, Israel, McNeel Europe, based in Barcelona, Spain, and Studio Animal-Aided Design in Germany. The Chair of Terrestrial Ecology is an international and dynamic team of about 35 people almost equally shared between postdocs, PhDs, and technical staff. The team works on various topics, including biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, plant-insect interactions, urban ecology, and global changes impacts on biodiversity. Freising is a charming small student Bavarian city in Munich vicinity, very well connected to Munich by train, and a perfect start point to explore Bavaria and Germany.

Working hours are flexible and remuneration is in accordance with the applicable TUM regulations (TV-L). Severely disabled persons will be given preference in the case of essentially equal suitability and qualifications. The TUM aims to increase the proportion of women; applications from women are therefore expressly welcomed.

We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.