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 

Postdoctoral researcher Archaeology of Trinil

The Postdoc 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”. He/she will focus on setting up and conducting archaeological excavations at Trinil (Indonesia) in September 2018 and 2019, in collaboration with Indonesian archaeologists from ARKENAS, Jakarta. In addition, the successful candidate will be responsible for studying traces of hominin modification on fossil shells and bones from the excavations and from museum collections, and supervising master students involved in the Trinil project.

At Naturalis in Leiden, the Postdoc will work in a dedicated “Trinil Team” with the PI, a PhD student focusing on geology and dating of Trinil and another PhD student focusing on the regional geology of East Java.

General requirements and skills:

The successful candidate should have a PhD in Archaeology with:

• experience in designing and managing archaeological excavations
• relevant skills, e.g. Total Station, differential GPS, photogrammetry, drones etc
• basic laboratory skills
• affinity with geology, paleoenvironmental reconstruction and human evolution
• excellent command of the English language, willingness to learn Bahasa Indonesia
• excellent scientific writing skills
• available to start at the latest on June 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 Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University.

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 one year after successful first year evaluation. Salary indication € 40.000,- 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 [at] naturalis.nl.