Whenever there are any new positions available at the ICOS or related communities we will announce it on this page.
If you have information about related open vacancies, please email ICOS Communications at icos-comms (at) icos-ri.eu
Open positions in the ICOS field
Postdoctoral scientist position: Greenhouse gas emissions modeling and mapping, School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA (deadline 25th August 2025)
Join an exciting Northern Arizona University research team in beautiful Flagstaff, Arizona doing cutting-edge research on quantifying GHG, local air pollution, and waste heat emissions at multiple scales from the building to the globe. This research uses existing systems (Vulcan and Hestia) developed in the Gurney Lab over the past 20 years. This postdoctoral position will focus on further development of the Vulcan/Hestia systems (data mining, algorithmic development) and analysis of output including relationships to socioeconomics, urban GHG/AQ mitigation, and exploration of the very high-resolution GHG, AQ, and anthropogenic heat emissions.
Candidates must have received a PhD in a field related to the positions (spanning Informatics, Civil Engineering, Urban Science, Ecological/Environmental Sciences, Atmospheric Science, Data Science, Geography) from an accredited college or university. The applicant will be expected to publish peer-reviewed journal articles and work in a team environment, effectively communicating with the research team.
Job duties include data collection on emitting assets, developing/improving model systems for flux estimation (R, python, GIS), analysis of the high-resolution GHG, AQ, and heat fluxes and coding within the existing Vulcan/Hestia software to deploy new/improved/updated flux estimation. Postdoctoral scientist will be responsible for an asset-level and gridded inventory output (in conjunction with the existing Vulcan/Hestia systems output) and will also supervise a graduate student in assisting in all aspects of the project.
Deadline for applications is 25th August 2025.
PhD position, Measuring photosynthesis and respiration in high time-resolution with eddy covariance and wavelet analysis, French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), Nancy, France (deadline 14th September 2025)
Land vegetation is currently under unprecedented pressure due to climate change. A better understanding of how plants respond to environmental stresses, such as heat waves and droughts, is essential for designing effective mitigation strategies.
The eddy covariance method is now the leading method for measuring greenhouse gas exchanges between ecosystems and the atmosphere. It provides continuous, direct data that is widely used for studies on droughts, atmospheric inversions, satellite validation, etc. The method makes it possible to estimate the carbon sink of soils and plants, resulting from the balance between carbon absorbed by photosynthesis (gross primary productivity, GPP) and carbon emitted by ecosystem respiration (RE).
The future of terrestrial carbon sinks will depend on the evolution of these carbon fluxes. Understanding how photosynthesis and respiration respond to extreme events (heat, drought) is therefore essential to guide the transition to a low-carbon economy and help ecosystems adapt.
We have recently developed a method based on wavelet analysis to estimate ecosystem fluxes even under non-stationary conditions (Destouet et al. 2024). In addition, another study used wavelet analysis to estimate photosynthesis and respiration from the eddy covariance raw data (Coimbra et al. 2023).
Profile: We are seeking a motivated candidate who is eager to work in an interdisciplinary setting at the intersection of signal processing, fluid mechanics, and ecophysiology. They should have strong computer skills, an aptitude for mathematics, have interest in research related to climate change, and an affinity to work with international partners.
Deadline for applications is 14th September 2025.
Doctoral Researcher in Biogeochemistry and Environmental Sciences, Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), University of Helsinki, Finland (deadline 31st July 2025)
Faculty of Science invites applications for DOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES for a fixed period of 4 years starting on September 1st, 2025, or as agreed.
Northern wetlands emit large amounts of methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. There are high uncertainties in the estimation of wetland CH4 emissions due to the large temporal and spatial variations in CH4 emission and its underlying processes. The lack of continuous observations of CH4 turnover hinders our understanding of CH4 emission variability and the predictability of mechanistic CH4 models. We aim to fill the knowledge gap in the project “A holistic view of Methane turnover in northern Wetlands by Novel isotopic approach (MeWeN): Coupled above/belowground automatic measuring and isotope labelling”.
In the MeWeN project, we will conduct in-situ surface and subsurface measurement of and laboratory measurements (continuous and campaign based) as well as process-based CH4 isotope modelling. We will measure or infer methane-related processes, fluxes, microbial composition, vegetation, and key environmental variables from different wetland types at a high temporal resolution. The comprehensive dataset will provide us with detailed information on CH4 turnover dynamics and responses to biotic and abiotic factors along the year, especially during the less studied winter and shoulder seasons. Based on the dataset, we will update the representation of different wetland types in a process-based CH4 model with an isotope fractionation effect using data inversion approach, validate the model and provide new estimates for northern wetland CH4 emissions.
The doctoral student’s work will focus on in situ manual and automatic sampling underlying methane-related processes (production, oxidation and transport) from prestine wetlands, methane flux measurement, lab incubation and mesocosm experiments. There will be collaborations with other parts of the project, including model development, upscaling and validation. Regular fieldwork at wetland stations and laboratory work are to be expected.
Deadline for applications is 31st July 2025.
Research Engineer for ICOS, Laboratory for Climate and Environmental Sciences (LSCE), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), (Deadline 11th July 2025)
The CNRS is opening a Research Engineer position for the LSCE as part of the ICOS research infrastructure. The person recruited will be responsible for designing, implementing and monitoring multi-parameter monitoring systems (greenhouse gases, radon, meteorological parameters), and to supervise the LSCE program for vertical profiles measurements of greenhouse gases.
Main activities:
- Responsible for organizing the supervision of GHG and meteorological measurements at the ICOS observatory in Saclay: quality control of measurements, training of technical staff for regular maintenance, updating of analyzers, coordination of intensive campaigns with the researchers involved.
- Responsible for organizing radon measurement at LSCE, its deployment at measurement stations (about 10 sites), training of technical staff and supervision of measurement processing chains.
- Organize the LSCE program for measuring vertical GHG profiles under balloon, training and supervising technical staff, and monitoring the data processing and quality control chain.
- Study scientific requirements for ICOS stations and mobile platforms used in the French monitoring network, and propose improvements in measurement methods.
- Upgrade on-board systems, which include gas, temperature, pressure, humidity, flow and GPS sensors, and which need to be integrated into robust, real-time communicating systems.
- Participate in field missions to deploy measurements and maintain the stations.
- Structure the technological watch on GHG measurements and associated tracers (e.g. reactive gases, isotopes).
- Participate in national and European ICOS meetings, to present, disseminate and promote the team's achievements.
Deadline for applications is 11th July 2025.
Apply here (in French) using Concours N° 29
3-yr PostDoc position Greenhouse gas balance of fen meadow landscapes, Water Systems and Global Change group, Wageningen University, Netherlands (Deadline 28th July 2025)
In support of emission reduction policies for fen meadow landscapes, we contribute to projects such as the Netherlands Research Programme on Greenhouse Gas Dynamics from Peatlands and Organic soils, and PeatPals. These aim to investigate the effects of various mitigation measures on total greenhouse gas balance of the targeted areas. We contribute to this peatland research with (mobile) tower based eddy covariance measurements of carbon dioxide and methane exchange at field scale and with airborne measurements using the same technique at regional scale. Dedicated staff operate 20+ sites and make 200+ flying hours annually. Building on this unique dataset we aim to link the various measurement scales to come up with distributed, wall-to-wall landscape budgets of these greenhouse gases.
As a PostDoc, you will work and publish on the following research topics (relative weight to be determined based on your interest and qualifications): analyse and scale carbon dioxide and methane flux data from multiple locations and transects in relation to explanatory variables from vegetation and soil characteristics, land and water management and meteorology; develop data driven models of regional greenhouse gas balances for the fen meadow areas of the Netherlands under (emission reduction) management; use the model to simulate distributed emissions at regional to national scale; analyse the impacts of climate anomalies and climate change on regional greenhouse gas emissions; analyse trade-offs and synergies between nature management and climate change mitigation and adaptation measures in wetlands.
Deadline for applications is 28th July 2025.
Doctoral student, Ecosystem COS exchange, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (Deadline 1st August 2025)
The Grassland Sciences Group is a vibrant and international working group at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich. We are looking for a reliable, enthusiastic, and highly motivated doctoral student with a passion for science to join our team. Our research focuses on the process- and system-understanding of the biosphere- atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange and its drivers in forests and agroecosystems, in response to management and climate.
This position is part of the project Above- and below-canopy COS fluxes to constrain and partition forest CO2 and ET fluxes (ABACOS) funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The aim of this project is to quantify COS (carbonyl sulfide) fluxes at different spatial and temporal scales in a temperate broadleaf forest in Switzerland (Lägeren), using an unprecedented integration of co-located measurements. We will measure above- and below-canopy COS fluxes as well as CO2 and evapotranspiration (ET) fluxes, and quantify contributions of soil, branch, and understory vegetation to ecosystem fluxes. Driver analyses with machine learning approaches will provide detailed insights into the underlying processes. A COS-based estimate of ecosystem gross primary productivity (GPP) will be calculated and compared to other independent estimates. Thus, ABACOS will provide a comprehensive assessment of different GPP constraints and contribute unique COS flux data to the global COS community from a temperate mixed forest, where flux measurements are scarce. The ABACOS team will include a doctoral student (this position), a postdoc (years 3 and 4) and a technician (years 1 to 3).
The earliest starting date is 1 August 2025. We will start interviewing candidates end of May 2025.