Full Professorship (W3) in Marine Experimental Benthic Ecology

Full Professorship (W3) in Marine Experimental Benthic Ecology

GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research

Kiel, Germany

Marine benthic communities are subject to increasing levels of combined human perturbations, such as heat waves, upwelling of oxygen deficient waters, pollution, fisheries, or ocean acidification. A key question is thus how marine benthic species adapt to spatially or temporarily challenging conditions, how communities are restructured driven by climate change and which functional implications such community change entails. The successful candidate will already have established a successful and internationally visible research program including third-party funding that addresses adaptation of benthic ecosystems in its broadest sense to natural and anthropogenic perturbations.

Possible topics may include (but are not meant to be exclusive):

• organismal biology and eco-physiological responses of marine species to human perturbation;
• population level: the analysis of contemporary or past evolutionary adaptation of benthic organisms and populations, projections into the future;
• community level: the restructuring of benthic communities and populations and its functional consequences for energy flow and food webs;
• macroecology: large-scale biogeographic analyses of contemporary and future community change, any of a variety of tools from eDNA, remote sensing, underwater photography, mapping, or others.

We seek candidates whose track record already demonstrates the successful integration of two or more of the above levels of biological organization into their research concept. We welcome applications from researchers using a diverse portfolio of approaches, encompassing laboratory and mesocosm-based experimentation, omics and bioinformatics, expeditions, field observations or modeling. We are especially interested in research lines that bridge the divide between biogeochemistry and marine biology, in any benthic ecosystem ranging from coastal, shelf to deep sea. Target species and communities should focus on multicellular organisms (plants, algae, animals) while acknowledging their close association with microbial species (the microbiome). Previous leadership experience and experience in leading larger research consortia are expected, while experience with knowledge transfer and outreach is highly welcome.