The focus of Naturalis is biodiversity. Naturalis, situated in Leiden the Netherlands, curates a collection of 42 million specimens; this is one of the world's largest natural history collections. We present the history of our planet and the diversity of life on Earth with permanent and temporary exhibitions, educational programmes and websites. Our research and education are maintained at a high academic level and organized in six research groups with their own expertise and focus.

Naturalis Biodiversity Center has a position for a PhD Geology and Geochronology of Trinil

The PhD position is available within the Vidi project of dr. Josephine Joordens, entitled “Studying Homo erectus Lifestyle and Location (SHeLL): an integrated geo-archaeological research of the hominin site Trinil on Java”.

The PHD candidate will focus on resolving the depositional context, stratigraphy and age of sediments at Trinil (Indonesia). This will involve geo-archaeological fieldwork in September 2018 and 2019, comparative petrographic analysis of sediments, and application of several dating techniques (OSL, paleomagnetics, Ar/Ar, ESR/U-series) in collaboration with international experts. The candidate will also participate in paleoclimatic and environmental reconstruction using isotope geochemistry.

At Naturalis in Leiden, the PhD candidate will work in a dedicated “Trinil Team” with the PI, another PhD candidate researching the regional geology of East Java, and a Postdoctoral researcher focusing on archaeology. Part of the laboratory work will be carried out at Department of Earth Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

General requirements and skills:

The successful candidate should have a Master degree in Geology with:

• experience in field geology, sedimentology and preferably also geomorphology;
• preferably experience with dating techniques;
• basic laboratory skills;
• affinity with archaeology and human evolution research;
• excellent command of the English language;
• excellent scientific writing skills;
• available to start at the latest on August 1st 2018.

What we offer

A dynamic research environment with involved research staff for supervision, a lively PhD and postdoc community, and a national and international academic network. Naturalis has well-equipped modern laboratories with highly qualified technical staff. The candidate will also be affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

The successful candidate will be employed by Naturalis in Leiden with a full time position (36 hours a week) for the duration of one year, to be extended with three years after successful first year evaluation. Salary indication € 36.000,- gross per year, depending on experience. As an employee of Naturalis the Collective Employment Agreement of Dutch Museums will be applicable to you. All our employees are incorporated into a pension fund. Naturalis Biodiversity Center promotes gender equality and wants to enhance the diversity of staff members.

The candidate will be supervised by Dr. Josephine Joordens. Feel free to contact her with questions about this position at josephine.joordens@naturalis.nl.