Job Description
The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL is part of the ETH Domain. Approximately 600 people work on the sustainable use and protection of the environment and on the handling of natural hazards.
PostDoc in Biome Biogeography 70-100% (f/m/d)
The Research Group Dynamic Macroecology led by Dr. Niklaus E. Zimmermann studies questions related to spatial ecology, macroecology and -evolution and global biome dynamics. For this group, we are looking for the duration of
18 months (possibility of extension) for a
as part of an SNSF (ERC) Advanced Grant project (Predicting hotspots of climate change impacts on ecosystems from an eco-evolutionary biome framework). This project aims at mapping global biomes, projecting global change impacts on biomes, and testing a novel eco-evolutionary biome theory. In this project, several PhD and postdoctoral students work on generating baseline data and on testing different aspects of the theory. Your responsibility will be to contribute the overall testing of several important aspects of the biome biogeography theory. You will contribute to generate and analyze outputs from machine learning models, process-based simulations and macroevolutionary approaches. Based on these you will conduct statistical hypothesis testing and take responsibility for testing specific key aspects of the theory and you support others with targeted contributions, spatial products, and analytical protocols in their work on theory testing. You therefore will contribute to synthesizing the biome biogeography theory across different sub-projects.
You hold a PhD degree in ecology or a related field, and you have expert knowledge in macroecology, functional ecology, the processing and analysis of high-volume data sets, spatial ecology/modelling, and in coding with R/Python/GIT. Further assets are expertise in remote sensing, and experience in cluster computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The capability to develop new ideas independently is necessary, as are very good English skills (both written and oral). You are a curious, self-reliant person who is also an excellent team worker and values cooperation.
Please send your complete application to Beatrice Lamprecht, Human Resources WSL, by uploading the requested documents through our webpage. Applications via email will not be considered. Niklaus E. Zimmermann, email
niklaus.zimmermann@wsl.ch, will be happy to answer any questions or offer further information. The position remains open until filled. Evaluation of application starts May 11th 2026. Note that two other postdoc positions (
here and
here) are advertised at the same time and will be evaluated jointly. If you apply for more than one position, please indicate in the cover letter, which one you rank highest. WSL is committed to diversity and inclusion as core values. We actively promote gender equality and foster an open, inclusive work environment.
Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf
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