PostDoc (f/m/d) in mathematical modeling of animal-animal and animal-vehicle interactions

Through cutting-edge research in the fields of ENERGY, HEALTH and MATTER, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) solves some of the pressing societal and industrial challenges of our time. Join our 1.500 employees from more than 50 nations at one of our six research sites and help us moving research to the next level!

The Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) is a German-Polish research center for data-intensive digital systems research. CASUS was founded in 2019 in Görlitz and conducts digital interdisciplinary systems research in various fields such as earth systems research, systems biology and materials research.

To strengthen our diverse team, the Young Investigator Group on Dynamics of Complex Living Systems at CASUS is looking for a PostDoc (f/m/d) in mathematical modeling of animal-animal and animal-vehicle interactions. The position will be available at the earliest possible date. The employment contract is limited to two years with the possibility of longer-term prospects.

The successful candidate (f/m/d) will be part of an interdisciplinary team studying how animal perception and range-resident movement behavior determine the encounter statistics of animals with other individuals and landscape features. In particular, the postdoc will develop a new family of movement models incorporating animal perception and analyze their corresponding encounter statistics.

Your tasks:

• Incorporate individual perception into existing models for animal movement
• Derive encounter statistics for such models considering both encounters between pairs of animals and between animals and landscape features, such as roads and fences (Martinez-Garcia et al., J. Theor. Biol. 2020, Noonan et al., Methods Ecol. Evol. 2021)
• Work closely with our extensive network of international collaborators (University of Maryland, USA; University of British Columbia, Canada) and local researchers at the CASUS Earth System Science Research Team
• Publish results in academic, peer-reviewed journals
• Present results at scientific meetings

Your profile:

• PhD degree in a relevant field such as physics, applied mathematics, quantitative ecology, or a related field
• Excellent programming skills in at least one of the following programming languages: Python, R, Julia, Fortran, C/C++
• Advanced knowledge of stochastic calculus and computational methods to simulate stochastic processes
• Evidence of the ability to publish results in top peer-reviewed journals
• Strong motivation to work in a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment
• Excellent communication skills in English and in a professional context (presentation of research results at scientific meetings, colloquial discussions, writing of manuscripts)
• Previous experience working on first passage problems is a plus but not required
• Previous experience working with tracking data is a plus but not required

Our offer:

• A vibrant research community in an open, diverse and international work environment
  
• Scientific excellence and extensive professional networking opportunities
• A wide range of qualification opportunities and individual career counseling provided by the Postdoc Center HZDR-TUD
• Salary and social benefits in accordance with the collective agreement for the public sector (TVöD-Bund) including 30 days of paid holiday leave, company pension scheme (VBL)
• We support a good work-life balance with the possibility of part-time employment, mobile working and flexible working hours
• Numerous company health management offerings
• Employee discounts with well-known providers via the platform Corporate Benefits

Kindly submit your completed application (including cover letter, CV, diplomas/transcripts, etc.) only via our Online-application-system.