The Netherlands Earth System Science Centre (NESSC) is currently looking to fill 13 PhD positions with excellent, talented, enthusiastic, highly motivated and goal-oriented candidates, with a no-nonsense mentality. The ideal candidates are interested in past and/or current climate research, are highly motivated to perform research in an excellent, exciting and international working environment, and are committed to a fully-funded 4-year PhD track.

The project “Reconstructing ancient seawater isotopes using hydrogen isotopic composition of organic biomarkers” will be hosted at Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). The stable oxygen isotopic composition of foraminifera has been paramount in defining climate events over the Cenozoic, but unfortunately their 18O content does not only reflect changes in temperature but also in the 18O content of sea water. We will use an alternative method of constraining the evolution of the 18Osea water by analyzing the d2H of organic biomarkers derived from photoautotrophs. Since 2H and 18O are directly coupled in sea water and the d2H of organic biomarkers is not affected by temperature nor, in case of isoprenoid compounds, by salinity, this proxy may allow an independent view of the isotopic changes of sea water over the Cenozoic. So far most of the biomarker d2H analyses in the marine realm have been done on haptophyte derived alkenones to reconstruct paleo sea surface salinity. This project aims to extend the method to other organic compounds including isoprenoids such as phytane, and combine this with bulk and/or foraminifera based d18O analyses to better understand seawater isotopes, d18O based temperature reconstructions, timing of glaciations and ice volume and salinity variability in the past.

General requirements for applicants
• Candidates did not reside or carry out their main activity (e.g. work, studies) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months during the 3 years immediately prior to the date of appointment (time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention, compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account)*.
• Candidates hold an MSc degree (or will graduate before the appointment date) in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Ecology, Earth Sciences and/or Environmental Sciences.
• Candidates are in the first four years of their research careers at the start of their appointment (full-time equivalent research experience, measured from the date when a researcher obtained the degree entitling him or her to embark on a doctorate) and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.
• Excellent proficiency of the English language (both oral and written).
• The ability to work both independently in challenging environments and in a multidisciplinary team. Excellent communication skills and cooperation skills are required.
• An inquisitive mind-set, accuracy, creativity and self-reliance are very important. You are required to be flexible, mobile and pro-active.
• Enthusiasm to attend the full training programme as offered in the project and to actively contribute to the project aims and objectives.
• High interest in receiving training from supervisors from different institutes, disciplines and sectors, this will require regular travelling within the Netherlands.
• High motivation to contribute to the dissemination of results and outreach to both specialists and the public at large.
• Candidates are excited to move to the Netherlands and to visit a Partner Organisations for a secondment (internship), in or outside the Netherlands, as this is part of the programme. Additional research visits to international institutes and conferences for research collaborations are expected.
• Strong motivation to obtain a PhD degree.

*If you do not qualify for the first criteria, you can still submit your application if you would like to be considered for the NON-COFUND PhD positions.

Specific requirements for this project
For this project we seek a PhD candidate with a background in Geochemistry, stable isotopes, earth sciences.

The selected candidates will be offered a full-time PhD position at one of the NESSC institutes, initially for one year. The first formal assessment will be held between month 10 and 16 of employment, if found positive the ESR will be offered the full 48 months of PhD employment.

Your gross salary will be in line with the collective labour agreement of your employer. The full-time gross monthly salary ranges from €2,346 to start with in the first year, to €3,007 in the fourth year. The salary is supplemented by a guaranteed end-of-year bonus of 8.3% and a holiday allowance of 8% of your yearly salary. We offer a pension scheme (partly paid by employer), collective insurance schemes, parental leave, travel allowance (home to work and for work purposes), and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model).

The Royal NIOZ, an NWO Institute, is the Dutch national institute for fundamental and applied marine sciences. It is our goal to improve and share our knowledge of estuaries, seas and oceans: for a better understanding of our planet. The Royal NIOZ aims to improve the career development of Masters, PhD’s and Postdocs. We support the goals of the Postdoc Career Development Initiative (PCDI) in the Netherlands. The aim of this organization is to stimulate the broad professional and career development of early career researchers who (are about to) have a PhD.

At the Royal NIOZ, we aim to create progress from the day you start. To achieve this we reimburse training/courses, monitor your achievements and assist further growth in a career development programme. Click here for more information about working at NIOZ.

About NESSC
NESSC brings scientists together with a background in Physics, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Ecology and Mathematics to better understand the processes behind climate change and to improve future climate projections and predictions. NESSC offers young academics the opportunity to work on important scientific topics in not previously existing partnerships, and thus creates the conditions for innovative, ground-breaking and multidisciplinary research, including both experimental and theoretical approaches. All PhD positions will be hosted at one of the NESSC research institutes: Utrecht University, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, VU University Amsterdam or Wageningen University.