Research Scholar/Modeler – Global Land Carbon Cycle and Land Use Change
The Earth system modeling research theme is looking for a research scholar with expertise in global land carbon cycle modeling and especially land use change. The role will develop further open-source models of the land carbon cycle at various spatial resolutions, link them with representations of other components of the global climate system, and contribute to a better understanding of the global land carbon cycle.
The successful candidate will contribute to the ongoing project funded by the European Space Agency and dedicated to developing a very high resolution bookkeeping model to estimate regional land use change carbon emissions. A prototype of the model has been developed, which now needs to be exploited and fine-tuned.
Additionally, they will also participate in the upcoming CLARiTy project, a five-year project that aims to dramatically reduce uncertainty in land carbon fluxes by integrating high-resolution Earth observation data with advanced modeling techniques. By harmonizing definitions, improving spatial resolution, making modeling approaches converge, and aligning scientific estimates with national greenhouse gas inventories, CLARiTy is expected to deliver more accurate and operational carbon budget assessments to support climate policies and global stocktakes.
The successful applicant will join IIASA scientists to contribute to these efforts and other connected projects, and their modeling work will include:
* using spatially explicit data from global vegetation models and Earth observation to improve and exploit the high-resolution bookkeeping model we have developed,
* improving the land carbon cycle’s representation in the reduced-complexity Earth system model and its comparability with national inventories.
Both activities aim at an improved vegetation and disturbance representation to better capture the effect of land management and environmental factors on carbon dynamics, and at establishing a unified, data-driven framework that consistently estimates both the land-use emissions and natural land sink components of the global carbon budget.
Responsibilities and tasks:
* Exploit and refine the prototype high-resolution EO4BK bookkeeping model.
* Further develop the land carbon cycle in OSCAR, notably for anthropogenic and natural disturbances, as well as its observation-based constraining approach.
* Contribute to a database that will be used to inform and validate the models.
* Exploit global vegetation models and satellite data to parameterize, constrain and validate both models.
* Setup, run, exploit and share simulations made with both models.
* Write and contribute to projects deliverables as required.
* Write and contribute to scientific articles derived from the above work, and present those at scientific workshops and conferences.
Requirements:
* PhD (or equivalent) in land carbon cycle/land surface modeling, or a related topic.
* Advanced understanding of current research in land use and land carbon, and more broadly in Earth system science and climate change.
* Experience with the Python coding language is essential.
* Experience with bookkeeping models for land use emissions a significant asset.
* Experience with reduced-complexity climate models in general, with global vegetation models, with satellite products (L3 or L4), and/or with machine learning applied to spatially explicit data preferred.
* Excellent organizational skills, results-oriented mindset, as well as autonomy, proactivity and adaptability.
* Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) in English, and proven ability to write scientific articles.
We offer:
* The possibility to contribute to environmental sciences for sustainability and global wellbeing.
* An international atmosphere and pleasant working environment in a historic market town surrounded by green areas.
* An attractive annual salary which is exempt from income tax in Austria (subject to deductions for health insurance and/or social security) and at least: EUR 53,451.00.
Additional benefits:
* Educational subsidies for children of school age enrolled in private schools in Austria.
* A generous annual leave entitlement.
* Relocation allowances and paid home leave for employees in scientific and professional categories hired from international locations.
* Assistance for newcomers to Austria with visa, work and residency permit applications.
* Support finding accommodation in Austria.
How to apply:
* A cover letter outlining your motivation for and fit to the position.
* A detailed Curriculum Vitae.
* The names, addresses (including e-mail), and telephone numbers of two reference givers.
* A link to a repository exhibiting some of your own python code (e.g., data processing, model solving, etc.).
Deadline for receipt of applications: 6 November 2025
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