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”.
Postdoctoral researcher (f_m_x) in Urban Seismology
Reference Number 10647
The central research topic of Section 4.2 aims at understanding the physical processes that control dynamics and mechanical properties in the Earth's crust and mantle lithosphere. This covers the entire spectrum of topics ranging from geomechanics and rock physics to the rheology of crust and uppermost mantle, ranging over the entire spatial bandwidth from the laboratory through mine and reservoir scale to the deformation of tectonic plate boundaries.
At the field scale, we investigate seismic and aseismic deformation processes and aim at identifying slip transients covering the entire frequency band of seismic signals. This is particularly important in the frame of the ICDP-GONAF observatory in the Sea of Marmara region, which currently represents a seismic gap in the vicinity of the Istanbul urban area.
This project is funded by the national funding program Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and focuses on the analysis of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) data from different locations in the Sea of Marmara region. The main purposes are (i) to compare detection thresholds between different types of instrumentation, (ii) to monitor seismic deformation transients framing local moderate (and large) earthquakes in amphibious environments using fiber optics, and (iii) imaging potential fault structures crossed by the fibers. The project will benefit from and strongly interact with the Helmholtz large-scale infrastructure project "SAFAtor”.
Your responsibilities:
- Processing DAS data from different ongoing experiments in the study region
- Application of methodologies to detect and locate seismic events recorded in DAS data
- Development and use of tools to estimate source parameters and fault mechanisms from DAS data
- Integrate and compare detection thresholds for additional data types available in the region, such as seismic, geodetic and strainmeter data
- Publish your results as scientific papers in ISI peer-reviewed journals
- Present and disseminate your research results at scientific meetings
- Willingness to participate in field campaigns on the North Anatolian Fault
Your qualifications:
- Master's in geophysics or equivalent
- Solid background in the field of seismology
- Programming skills (AI/ML programming frameworks, e.g. PyTorch or TensorFlow, Python, MATLAB, SQL)
- Fluency in English (written/oral)
- Willingness to work in an interdisciplinary and international environment
What we offer:
- Ambitious and varied tasks in a dynamic and international research environment
- State-of-the-art equipment
- Public service benefits
- Extensive training opportunities
- Professional career advice offered by our in-house Career-Centre
- Flexible working hours and conditions
- Support with finding a good work-life balance offered by benefit@work
- Institute day-care centre on site
- Working at the Albert Einstein Science Park on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam
- Workplace within walking distance of Potsdam main train station, or just a short ride on the shuttle bus
Fixed-term: 2 years
Salary: The position is classed as salary group 13 according to "TVöD Bund (Tarifgebiet Ost)”. The salary group is determined on the basis of the Collective Wage Agreement and the respective personal qualifications.
Working hours: Full-time (currently 39 h/week); The position is generally suitable for part-time work.
Place of work: Potsdam
Have we piqued your interest?
The GFZ actively promotes diversity and explicitly welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of ethnic and social origin, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and identity, religion/belief, age and physical characteristics. We also promote an inclusive working environment in which everyone can fully develop their own talents. Anyone who has been recognised as severely disabled will be given preferential consideration in the event of equal suitability and qualification in accordance with the provisions of the German Social Code IX. In case of further queries regarding gender equality, please do not hesitate to contact our Equal Opportunities Officer.
"Diversity in perspectives” is one of GFZ's core values. As an integral part of supporting diversity at our centre, we actively promote women in science and in leadership positions. We, among others, do this through our gender equality plan and the cascade model measures, which we actively implement to enable sustainable equal opportunities in academic career paths. The GFZ thus committedly strives for gender equality in science, including in leadership positions, and strongly encourages women to apply.
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