Twelve (12) PhD Positions, University of Rostock, Germany (2015-2016)

The Research Training Group “Baltic TRANSCOAST” investigates hydrological, biogeochemical and biological processes at the interface of a coastal peatland and the Baltic Sea at a site near Rostock. It is expected that the intensive exchange processes are modulated by sea level changes and occur above ground and below through submarine groundwater discharge. Water fluxes and solute transport through the coastal ecotone and along the coast, microbial processes, and the interaction of benthic animals and plants with their environment are the major topics of research. PhD candidates will gain extensive knowledge on specific processes combined with an overall, inter-disciplinary knowledge of coastal processes. Moreover, they will receive intensive training in soft skills and attend courses provided by the Baltic Transcoast education module and the Graduate Academy of the University of Rostock. More information on each of the individual PhD projects can be found on the project web page via the "Apply through website" button.

Our individual projects will be jointly supervised by marine and terrestrial scientists:

H1: Marine and terrestrial influence on submarine groundwater discharge in coastal waters connected to a peatland (PI M. Janssen, B. Lennartz, AUF Rostock, G. Massmann, Univ. Oldenburg, T. Ptak Univ, Göttingen).

H2: Non-equilibrium flow and solute transport in coastal fen peats (PI B. Lennartz, M. Janssen, AUF Rostock, M. Brede, Fluid Dyn. Univ. Rostock)

H3: Downscaling (process oriented localization) of larger scale simulations of sea water currents to assess interactions between sea and groundwater bodies (PI H. Burchard, IOW, M. Janssen, B. Lennartz, AUF Rostock)

H4: Waves and turbulence on wavy coastal seabeds inducing vertical scalar transport. (M. Brede, Fluid Dyn. Univ. Rostock, S. Forster, Mar.Biol. Univ. Rostock)

G1: The influence of terrestrial input on fluxes from and element (C-N-S-P, metals) transformations in shallow water sands of the Baltic Sea coast (M. Böttcher, M. Voss, IOW, G. Jurasinski, AUF Univ. Rostock)

G2: Climate relevant trace gases in shallow waters impacted by terrestrial nutrient input from a coastal peatland (M. Voss, IOW, Jurasinski, AUF Univ. Rostock, G. Rehder, IOW)

G3: Plant and microbial drivers of methane exchange and their relationship in a coastal peatland ( G. Jurasinski, AUF Univ. Rostock, S. Liebner, GFZ Potsdam, G. Rehder, IOW, F. Koebsch, GFZ Potsdam)

G4: Influence of salinity dynamics on the release, chemical structure and biological transformations of dissolved organic matter in a coastal peatland (P. Leinweber, AUF Univ. Rostock, U. Karsten Mar.Biol. Univ. Rostock)

B1: Impact of nutrient emissions from land on the species composition and productivity of communities of macrophytes in shallow waters (H. Schubert, Mar.Biol. Univ. Rostock, M. Voss, IOW)

B2: Microphytobenthic primary production in biofilms along terrestrial-marine gradients (U. Karsten, Mar.Biol. Univ. Rostock, P Leinweber, AUF, Univ. Rostock)

B3: Microbial life and the phosphorus cycle along the terrestrial to marine gradient (H. Schulz-Vogt, M. Böttcher, IOW, P. Leinweber, AUF Univ. Rostock)

B4: Factors controlling transport and matter cycling at the sediment-water-interface. (S. Forster, Mar.Biol. Univ. Rostock, M. Brede, Fluid Dyn. Univ. Rostock, M. Voss, IOW)

Further details:
http://www.researchgate.net