The Ecology lab of Mark van Kleunen in the Department of Biology at the University of Konstanz, Germany, is seeking a highly motivated student to do her/his PhD in a DFG-FWF-funded project on the analysis of the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) database. This project is part of a large international collaboration, and has already resulted in many high-profile publications.
One of the tasks of the PhD student will be to contribute to the maintenance and expansion of the database, but the main task will be to use the database to answer major macro-ecological questions in invasion ecology.
The successful candidate should have a keen interest in plant invasions, be able to handle large complex databases in R, and have good writing skills.
The position will be funded for three years, and the salary will be at scale 65% E13. The starting date is 1 March 2026, but an earlier or later starting date is negotiable.
The University of Konstanz is located just outside the beautiful city of Konstanz, which is at the shore of Lake Constance in Germany (at the border with Switzerland). The Ecology group is very international, and works on a wide range of topics, including among others plant responses to global change and determinants of plant invasions.
If you are interested in this position, send a single PDF with the following contents to mark.vankleunen@uni-konstanz.de:
- a motivation letter (Why do you want to do a PhD? Why this one? Why in this group?)
- your CV
- the contact details of two references
- a writing sample (for example, a publication that you wrote or your Master thesis)
Merge all these documents into a single PDF and include your name in the file name (for example: Swift_Robin.pdf).
The application deadline is 7 January 2026.
For more information, contact mark.vankleunen@uni-konstanz.de