Scientist (f_m_x) – in research data management for ICGEM

Area of research:

Scientific / postdoctoral posts

Job description:The Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences is the national centre for geosphere research. As a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres we are part of the largest scientific organization in Germany. With approximately 1,500 employees our key mission is to secure a profound understanding of the systems and processes of solid Earth, to develop strategies and options for action in addressing global change and its impacts on a regional level, to understand natural hazards and to minimize associated risks, to ensure the sustainable provision of energy and raw materials for a high-tech society and to evaluate the influence of human activity on system Earth. For section 5.1 "Library and Information Services", we are looking for a: Reference Number 9033

Global Gravity field Modelling for improved Service and Archive of Mass Distribution And mass Transport Data

The International Centre for Global Earth Models (ICGEM) was established in 2004 as a service of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). Since its establishment, the ICGEM Service has been further developed and hosted at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam. The service has been collecting almost all ever published Global Gravity Field Models (GGMs), which are directly linked to mass distribution and mass transport in system Earth. ICGEM makes the models available to the public in a standardised, self-explanatory format and supports the gravity field community.

GFZ is looking for a Scientist/IT specialist (f_m_x) to be involved in GFZ’s recent activities of reforming the ICGEM service via expanding and reshaping it in terms of its sustainability during and after the SAMDAT project. You are working in section “Library and Information Services” together with a team of geoscientists, research data managers, software engineers and librarians. The position requires close exchange within the project partners, especially with section 1.2 “Global Geomonitoring and Gravity Field”.

Your responsibilities:

• Working with global gravity field models, their input, output products and metadata
• Identification of metadata elements and development of controlled vocabularies/ontologies for describing GGMs
• Development of a metadata base: with an adapted conceptual data model, relational database for GGMs
• Development of an online metadata editor with controlled vocabularies and connection to GFZ Data Services, including testing and quality control
• Development of API for metadata exchange with GFZ Data Services to obtain DOIs and as harvesting endpoint for future integration with other portals
• Testing, quality control, documentation
• Presentation of the results at conferences and publications

Your qualifications:

• MsC in informatics, geodesy, geophysics, or a related discipline
• Experience in object-oriented software development and SQL based databases
• Experience with frontend and backend construction of websites
• Interest in semantic web technologies
• Background in geodetic and geophysical research data management
• Communicative, interactive, creative
• Ability for independent working
• Fluent in English

Start date: As soon as possible
Fixed-term: 3 years
Salary: The position is classed as salary group 13 according to “TVöD Bund (Tarifgebiet Ost)”. The salary group is determined on the basis of the Collective Wage Agreement and the respective personal qualifications.
Working hours: Full-time (currently 39 h/week); The position is generally suitable for part-time work.
Place of work: Potsdam What we offer:

• Ambitious and varied tasks in a dynamic and international research environment
• Collaborative work in a skilled and motivated team
• State-of-the-art equipment
• Public service benefits
• Extensive training opportunities
• Professional career advice offered by our in-house Career-Centre
  
• Flexible working hours and conditions
• Support with finding a good work-life balance offered by benefit@work
• Institute day-care centre on site
  
• A beautiful and historic science campus in a park setting with a history going back to Michelson and Einstein
• Work place within walking distance of Potsdam main train station, or just a short ride on the shuttle bus

Have we piqued your interest?If so, we look forward to receiving your application by 17th March 2024. Please use our online application form only.

Diversity and equal opportunities are integral components of our human resources policy. The GFZ actively promotes diversity and explicitly welcomes applications from all qualified individuals, regardless of ethnic and social origin, nationality, gender, sexual orientation and identity, religion/belief, age and physical characteristics. Anyone who has been recognized as severely disabled, will be given preferential consideration in the event of equal suitability and qualification in accordance with the provisions of the German Social Code IX. If you have any questions, please contact our representative for the severely disabled at sbv[at]gfz-potsdam.de, who will be happy to assist you in the further application process. In case of further queries regarding gender equality, please do not hesitate to contact our Equal Opportunities Officer at gba[at]gfz-potsdam.de.

Your personal data will be processed for the purpose of conducting the selection procedure on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 b, Art. 88 GDPR in conjunction with Art. 26 of the Data Protection Act for the State of Brandenburg. After completion of the procedure, application documents will be deleted in compliance with data protection regulations.

In case of any further queries relating to the field of activity, please contact Dr. Kirsten Elger either via email at kirsten.elger@gfz-potsdam.de or phone +49 (0)331-6264-2822. If you have any general questions about the application process, please contact our recruiting team at our phone number +49 (0) 331-6264-28787.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organisation.