PhD Scholarships, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Netherlands (2015)

NIOZ, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research is the Dutch national marine science institute and amongst the most renowned internationally.

In this NESSC project we want to develop novel organic geochemical tools to reconstruct past atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The stable carbon isotopic composition of alkenones has been used as a proxy for pCO2 but with large uncertainties. Our recent cultivation studies show that the 13C of certain algae, including those producing specific long-chain diols, show a strong relationship with pCO2. In this project we will extend these cultivation studies as well as perform environmental studies to quantitatively test the relationship between CO2 concentrations and the 13C of algal biomarkers. The results of this project should lead to improved methods for reconstructing past CO2 concentrations.

We are offering fulltime positions for 4 years, a pension scheme, a yearly 8% vacation allowance, year-end bonus and flexible employment conditions. Conditions are based on the Collective Labour Agreement of Research Centers. The position will be located on Texel. Cost of relocation and help with housing is provided by NIOZ.

Further details:
http://www.nature.com