Soil organic matter (OM) is an important source for nutrients. Soil OM mineralization by microorganisms releases available nutrients, but it is also an important source of the greenhouse gas CO2. Environmental changes, like climate change, elevated CO2, or N deposition, affect both, plant litter input to soils and OM mineralization rates. In order to understand the response of soil OM storage and greenhouse gas production to these changes, it is important to understand the links between carbon and nutrient cycles. Therefore, we would like to better understand how plants and microorganisms interact in their competition for nutrients in soils. We aim at studying the effect of nutrient availability on carbon and nutrient fluxes in soils, including priming effects. These include root production and turnover, litter decomposition, soil respiration, nutrient mineralization, and the stoichiometry (C/N/P) of plants, microbes and extracellular enzymes for nutrient acquisition. To trace carbon and nutrients in soils, both, stable isotopes and 14C will be used. The study will be part of a large-scale N and P fertilization experiment in a Spanish savanna-like ecosystem (Dehesa) where responses of trees and grasses can be compared. We hypothesize that fertilization will reduce the belowground carbon investment by plants as well as soil carbon mineralization, and that this effect will be stronger for grasses with a higher nutrient demand than for trees. The PhD will be imbedded in this larger project studying the response of ecosystem fluxes and plant phenology to nutrient additions.

We are looking for a highly motivated and team-oriented PhD student interested in a scientific career. Your background should be in soil science or soil ecology, certified by an MSc in soil science, environmental science, geoecology, biogeoscience or another soil related discipline. Additional expertise in field and lab work and in statistics and R programming is highly desired. Good knowledge of the English language is necessary, German is not essential.

We offer the challenging, dynamic, international and multidisciplinary environment of the Max Planck Institute. Funding will be for 3 years. PhD students will be offered an additional training program within the International Max Planck Research School for MPI Biogeochemie, Mirco Migliavacca, Postfach 10 01 64, 07701 Jena, Germany Global Biogeochemical Cycles (IMPRS-gBGC, http://www.imprs-gbgc.de/pmwiki.php) to develop a broad understanding of the Earth system.

The Max-Planck society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals. Furthermore, the Max Planck Society seeks to increase the number of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.

Evaluation of applications will start on July 15, 2015, and continue until the position is filled.

Please send your application including a letter of interest, CV, and the names and contact information of one or two references to Dr. Marion Schrumpf either via email to [email protected], and Dr. Mirco Migliavacca ([email protected])or directly to the institute’s address Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie, Postfach 10 01 64, 07701 Jena, Germany.