GFZ is Germany's national centre for solid Earth research. We advance the understanding of dynamic processes to address global challenges, from mitigating the impacts of natural hazards and sustaining our habitat amid global change to responsibly managing georesources. We are part of the Helmholtz Association, the largest German scientific organisation. With around 1,200 employees as well as ca. 500 guest researchers, we contribute to the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment, aligning cutting-edge research with societal relevance and international collaboration. Our work integrates multidisciplinary studies across Earth's system components, leveraging advanced technologies and infrastructure to research solutions and to transfer our knowledge to society. We are doing this according to our vision: "Taking the pulse of our Earth to safeguard a habitable planet”.

Reference Number 10667

The World Heat Flow Portal (WHFP) project, a continuation of the World Heat Flow Database (2022–2025) project, is dedicated to consolidating and enhancing the current research data infrastructure for global terrestrial heat-flow data (www.heatflow.world). This project is designed to provide the geoscientific community with efficient and open access to and utilisation of over a century's worth of research and data collection. The project emphasises the improvement and expansion of the current research data and web-based data portal, focusing on increased resilience, interoperability, and user experience. Key initiatives include (i) concluding the global data assessment, (ii) transitioning the data publication process from the current prototype to a fully semi-automated system, (iii) expanding the database with new data types and enhanced metadata standards (esp. for marine heat flow data), and (iv) strengthening both front-end and back-end functionalities.

Your responsibilities:

• Conduct research on global and regional patterns of terrestrial heat flow, including the Earth’s total heat loss
• Perform continental and marine data analyses using curated datasets from heatflow.world
• Integrate and analyse metadata for reproducibility and quality assessment of heat flow data
• Develop and apply data correction schemes for reviewing possible climatic, sedimentary, erosional, and topographic processes that may affect single heat-flow determinations
• Contribute to the development of global thermal property models (thermal conductivity, diffusivity, radiogenic heat production) of crustal rocks
• Optional: Conduct laboratory measurements of thermal rock properties under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions on selected reference samples
• Prepare and publish scientific papers and participate in international conferences
• Collaborate with international partners and contribute to the Global Heat Flow Portal Project

Your qualifications:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Geophysics, Geology, Geosciences, or a related discipline
• Strong background in solid Earth geophysics, heat transport and heat flow determination, and/or numerical Earth modelling
• Proven experience in data generation for the evaluation of petrophysical properties (field work or laboratory-based)
• Familiarity with large geoscientific datasets, spatial data analysis, and metadata handling
• Skills in scientific programming (e.g., Python, MATLAB, R) and geodata processing (GIS experience beneficial)
• Strong intrinsic motivation to work independently in a collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment
• Proficiency in English (written and spoken); experience in academic writing

What we offer:

• A highly motivated working group linked to international networks and co-workers
• A dynamic and international research environment with access to state-of-the-art data and facilities
• The opportunity to contribute to a high-impact, globally visible research infrastructure
• Structured PhD supervision in collaboration with partner universities (e.g., TU Darmstadt; University of Potsdam)
• Access to training, workshops, and international exchange within the Heatflow World Project framework
• Professional career advice offered by our in-house Career-Centre
• Support with finding a good work-life balance offered by benefit@work
• Working at the Albert Einstein Science Park on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam