LMU Munich

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Postdoctoral researcher (m/f/x)

Reconciliation of land fluxes between global models and national greenhouse gas inventories.

We are looking for a scientist to work on the reconciliation of land fluxes between global models and national greenhouse gas inventories at the LMU (Munich, Germany) and the Joint Research Center (Ispra, Italy).

About us:

The Schmidt Sciences Virtual Institute of the Carbon Cycle aims to reduce uncertainty in the global carbon cycle by an order of magnitude in order to inform effective climate policy and solutions. To this end, an international project led by the University of Exeter, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and the University of Maryland has started a project on Combining LAnd-use, modeling and Remote-sensing to Transform carbon budgets (CLARiTy) (https://clarityvicc.org/). We offer a joined postdoc position at the LMU in Munich, Germany and the Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy at the interface of science and policy in CLARiTy.

The Chair for Physical Geography and Land Use Systems (Prof. Julia Pongratz) at LMU’s Department of Geography investigates the interactions between humans, ecosystems and climate. Our group develops and applies the latest generation of carbon cycle and climate models and integrates them with Earth observations. We lead the estimates of the land-use carbon fluxes in the annual Global Carbon Budgets and are involved in a range of national and international projects that aim to provide the science basis for pathways to limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement.

The position plans a period of up to two years as Visiting Scientist at the Joint Research Centre (Ispra, VA, Italy), under the supervision of Dr. Giacomo Grassi. The JRC is the European Commission’s in-house science service, providing independent scientific evidence to support EU policies. In the area of climate change, the JRC works on reconciling land carbon flux estimates between global models and national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, which often differ due to varying definitions of anthropogenic land-use emissions and managed land. By analysing these conceptual differences and developing harmonisation and translation approaches, the JRC helps improve the consistency and comparability of land-use emissions and removals, supporting robust assessments of climate progress under the Paris Agreement. To this aim, the JRC has promoted an expert meeting under the IPCC (https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/mtdocs/2407_EM_Land.html) and developed a platform to compare land use emissions data and stimulate a dialogue across communities (https://forest-observatory.ec.europa.eu/carbon/fluxes).

Your tasks and responsibilities

The postdoctoral researcher will conduct innovative research at the interface between two different communities: the global carbon budget modeling community, providing data for the Global Carbon Budget and the IPCC Assessment Reports, and the national GHG inventory community, providing the basis for climate policies and for assessing compliance with the Paris Agreement.

Tasks comprise

• Refine the understanding of the conceptual differences between estimating anthropogenic land-use emissions between global ecosystem modeling (bookkeeping models and dynamic global vegetation models), integrated assessment models and national GHG inventories.
• Improve the current approaches for translating the different anthropogenic land-use emission estimates across communities
• Test new approaches and perform new analyses in specific countries cases, involving experts from the various communities
• Write publications
• Lead respective project tasks

Your qualifications

• You hold a Ph.D., or will soon finish your Ph.D., in a natural science subject (geography, environmental science, physics or similar).
• a track record of effectively communicating research results (commensurate with career stage)
• good programming skills (provide details)
• very good communication skills in English (our working language)
• Training or experience in ecosystem modeling and/or national inventories is highly desirable, but not essential.

Benefits

• the opportunity to be part of a dynamic, internationally connected team working at the forefront of Earth system science
• E13 TV-L position, commensurate with work experience, for up to three years, starting May 2026 or soon thereafter
• career development through the LMU qualification program and JRC training programme
• a stimulating working environment at LMU, one of Germany’s top-ranked universities, and at JRC, sitting in the interface between science and policy.
• organizational assistance for relocation to Munich and to Ispra.

Handicapped persons with comparable qualifications receive preferential status.

Contact and application

Please send an application outlining your fit for the position (including a cover letter, a CV, copies of scientific degrees, and the names and contact information of two references) by e-mail (one PDF-attachment with max. 5 MB including all documents) with subject "JRC-2026LMU-egu" to climate.jobs@geographie.uni-muenchen.de. Applications received prior to March 16, 2026, will receive full consideration, but the position will remain open until filled. Interviews will take place on March 23, 24 or 27. For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Julia Pongratz (julia.pongratz@lmu.de) or Dr. Giacomo Grassi (giacomo.grassi@ec.europa.eu).