PhD position (m/f/d) Microclimate and Phenology in Mountain Forests

Freising

Professur für Ökoklimatologie, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) is one of the leading universities globally. At the TUM School of Life Sciences one focus is on forest ecosystems, aiming to better understand their dynamics and contributing to their sustainable management under climate change. Funded by the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, a new Center for Forest Management in the Alps will be installed at the TUM School of Life Sciences. The goal of the new center is to bring together different disciplines and perspectives to foster the sustainable management of mountain forests in the Alps. The current position will be part of the Center for Forest Management in the Alps, and will work in the subproject 1, ecoclimatology in mountain forests under climate change (Prof. Dr. Annette Menzel).

Your profile

We are looking to fill the position of a PhD student (m/f/d) in the field of ecoclimatology (TV-L E13, 75%), available from January 2026 for 42 months. Your profile should include:

• Completed master's studies in environmental sciences, forestry, geography, landscape- or geoecology, biology, or a related discipline

• Interested in climatology/meteorology as well as quantitative methods

• Prior experience in programming is a plus (e.g., using R or Python)

• Good communication skills and a high level of motivation for interdisciplinary research

• Ability to work in a team and to conduct field work in alpine environments

• Driver’s licence (Class B)

• Excellent command of English (min. C1) and good command of German (min. B2)

Your tasks

You will conduct research on ecoclimatological conditions and phenology in different mountain forest ecosystems (e.g., National Park Berchtesgaden, region Werdenfelser Land) from in-situ experimental data to the landscape scale. Doing so, you will address questions of climate change impacts on meteorological extremes, phenology of selected forest tree and animal species and possible adaptation strategies. Specifically, tasks include:

• Upgrading and running of meteorological instrumentation, wildlife cameras and dendrometers in the field

• Combining field data for climate change impact and adaptation analyses, and for spatio-temporal modelling as well as upscaling of ecosystem properties via remote sensing

• Interactive collaboration and exchange within the TUM Center for Forest Management in the Alps

• Publication of peer-reviewed scientific papers in international journals

• Communication of research findings at scientific conferences and stakeholder meetings

Our offer

• Work in a highly dynamic and international research group

• Extensive opportunities for professional development as well as the possibility to pursue a doctoral degree

• Embedded into a newly established, interdisciplinary research Center with focus on mountain forests

• Interact with a wide network of peers, scientists and stakeholders both nationally and internationally

• 75% position in remuneration group TV-L E13, for a period of 42 months

• The place of employment is the TUM School of Life Science in Freising, Germany, a campus with access to modern facilities (e.g., a wide range of sports activities) and infrastructure

Contact

We look forward to receiving your detailed application documents (cover / motivation letter, CV, and relevant certificates) combined into one single PDF file named “AlpinePhenology_lastname_firstname.pdf”.

Please submit your application exclusively by e-mail with the subject line “Application Alpine Center” no later than 05 October 2025 to Prof. Dr. Menzel (sekretariat.ecoclim@ls.tum.de).

For questions about the position, please contact Prof. Dr. Annette Menzel (annette.menzel@tum.de).

TUM is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified people of all gender are encouraged to apply. We strive to increase the proportion of women, so applications from women are especially welcome. Applicants with disabilities will be given preference if they essentially have the same qualifications.

As part of your application for a position at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you will be submitting personal data. Please refer to our data protection information in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) https://portal.mytum.de/kompass/datenschutz/Bewerbung/ regarding the collection and processing of personal data as part of your application. By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of TUM's data protection information.