The mission of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) as a nationally and internationally active research institute is to deliver solutions for an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable agriculture – together with society. ZALF is a member of the Leibniz Association and is located in Müncheberg (approx. 35 minutes by regional train from Berlin-Lichtenberg). The institute maintains further locations in Brandenburg (Dedelow, Paulinenaue) as well as in Hesse (Giessen, Witzenhausen, and Geisenheim).

The project MicroResponS funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) assesses the resilience of wheat microbiome functions under water stress and the modulating effects by fungizides. The project is jointly conducted by the research group Microbial Biogeochemistry at RA Landscape Functioning (ZALF) together with the Fachgebiet Biotechnologie at the University of Applied Sciences Coburg (Prof. Dr. M. Noll, Prof. S. Simm, HS Coburg). A second doctoral coworker will contribute to the project and mainly work in Coburg.

We are offering a 65% position temporarily limited for 36 months at our campus in Müncheberg as a

• to design & conduct plant pot experiments, using wheat and related plant species
• to develop and apply meta’omics’-based detection of plant growth promoting traits of microbes
• to publish results in international peer-reviewed journals – target is more than 2 publications in 36 months
• to present key results on international and national conferences
• to collaborate actively with the project partners at HS Coburg, but also with the MicGeo Team at ZALF

• a very good, graded Master’s degree in study programs preferably focusing on plant microbiomes & plant microbe interactions
• knowledge & interest in plant microbiomes and agriculture
• knowledge on metagenomics and/or microbial ecology preferably in plant hosts
• very good English proficiency (spoken and written)
• preferred: Good knowledge (e.g. by study program) in required bioinformatics & ecological statistics (incl. R)
• a high personal motivation achieving goals and a high scientific curiosity
• we expect an open-minded and intercultural attitude to teamwork
• a high encouragement for independence and a self-reliant work mode
• preferred project start: 15. October 2026 or earlier

• a young, dynamic and international team - MicGeo
• work in an international leading agricultural research institution with disciplines from natural, social, to data sciences and modeling and as well transdisciplinary research
• salary classification according to the collective agreement of the federal states (TV-L) up to E13 65% (incl. special annual payment) for 36 months
• a collegial, international and open-minded working atmosphere
• company ticket for public transport
• access to a network of leading scientific partners in the field of soil and plant microbial ecology
• doctoral degree possible at the faculty of Life Sciences of Humboldt University of Berlin
• support for career development

ZALF promotes equality among all employees and welcomes applications regardless of ethnic, cultural, or social background, age, religion, ideology, disability, gender, or sexual identity. The filling of the position in part-time is possible in principle. Please send your application preferably online (see button online application below). For e-mail applications, create a PDF document (one PDF file, max. 5 MB; packed PDF documents, archive files like zip, rar etc. Word documents cannot be processed and therefore cannot be considered!) with the usual documents, in particular CV, proof of qualification and certificates, stating the reference number 23-2026 until 31 May 2026 to (see button e-mail application below)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: Prof. Dr. Steffen Kolb, Email Kolb@zalf.de.

For cost reasons, application documents or extensive publications can only be returned if an adequately stamped envelope is attached.

If you apply, we collect and process your personal data in accordance with Articles 5 and 6 of the EU GDPR only for the processing of your application and for purposes that result from possible future employment with the ZALF. Your data will be deleted after six months.