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University assistant predoctoral 

51 Faculty of Physics  

Job vacancy starting: 03/01/2025 | Working hours:  30,00  | Classification CBA: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) 

Limited contract until: 02/29/2028

Job ID: 3462

Are you interested in experimental aerosol physics and developing novel methods? Are you fascinated by large-scale international aircraft field experiments addressing urgent environmental challenges such as climate change? Do you enjoy being in the field and deploying novel instrumentation for coarse mode aerosol and cloud characterization? If so, we invite you to join the Aerosol Physics and Environmental Physics Group.

Your personal sphere of influence:

As a university assistant (Prae Doc) in this 3-year position, you will be part of the Aerosol Physics and Environmental Physics Group around Professor Bernadett Weinzierl. You will be focusing on the characterization of the stratospheric aerosol – a critical yet understudied component of the atmosphere. Our Group combines highly-sophisticated laboratory, ground-based and aircraft experiments with innovative modelling to study the fundamental physical and chemical properties of aerosol particles and clouds.

The overall aim of this position is the characterization of the baseline state and variability of coarse mode particles in the stratosphere and their role in the radiative budget that determines Earth’s climate. The analyses will be based on airborne measurements during NOAA’s Stratospheric Aerosol Processes, Budget, and Radiative Effects project SABRE (https://csl.noaa.gov/projects/sabre/). SABRE studies the transport, chemistry, microphysics and radiative properties of aerosols in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere utilizing the NASA WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft (https://www.nasa.gov/specials/jsc-aircraft-ops/wb-57.html#top).

The employment duration is 3 years. Initially limited to 1 year, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 3 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a nonextension declaration.

Your future tasks:

You actively participate in research, teaching & administration, which means:

• You will be involved in an unique research project in which we collaborate with top scientific institutions such as NASA and NOAA.
• You will be in the field for large-scale aircraft measurement campaigns (typically several weeks per year) that only a few groups in the world carry out.
• You will characterize new instruments in the laboratory, perform airborne aerosol measurements, and analyze the coarse mode aerosol and cloud data from laboratory experiments and field observations.
• You will work on your dissertation and towards its completion in time. You will present your research plan to the faculty and complete a dissertation agreement within 12-18 months. This will be reviewed and adapted on an annual basis.
• You will actively and continuously perform literature search to independently locate relevant journal articles.
• You will contribute to teaching (lab courses, exercise classes) within the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
• You will fill some administrative tasks, contributing to the success and self-organization of the group for research, teaching and administration.
• You will contribute to outreach by publications, conference presentations and public activities.

This is part of your personality:

• You have completed your Master's degree or Diploma in physics and/or aerosol related topics such as atmospheric sciences, aerosol chemistry or meteorology.
• You have an affinity for practical work; ideally you have experience in experimental/technical work.
• You have initiative in finding solutions for technical and scientific problems.
• You have the physical qualification to participate in airborne field missions and research flights, and you enjoy participating in field experiments abroad (up to several weeks per year).
• You have an excellent command of written and spoken English.
• You are a team player with good social/communication skills as the goal will only be achieved in a team.
• You are aware of your responsibilities and have a self-reliant way of working.
• You have experience in academic writing.
• You have a driver’s license.
• You should come with a background in general atmospheric and aerosol physics.
• Ideally, you have experience with common techniques for aerosol particle detection and characterization (in particular optical aerosol spectrometers) and programming (e.g. Python) crucial for data analysis.

What we offer:

Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.

Good public transport connections: Your workplace is easily accessible by public transport.

Internal further training & Coaching: The Vienna Doctoral School in Physics as well as the department of human resources offer plenty of opportunities to grow your skills in over 600 courses to choose from - free of charge.

Potential for development: Success in life depends on what you make of it, but if you are ambitious and successful, there are plenty of opportunities to connect you to all relevant top research groups in the world.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 2.684,10 (30h,14x p.a.) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Equal opportunities for all: We welcome every additional/new personality to the team!

It is that easy to apply:

• With a letter of motivation including (up to) three most important previous academic and research achievements.
• With a short description of your research interests and their relation to the research at our Group.
• Contact details of two persons who could provide reference letters.
• With your scientific curriculum vitae.
• Your Bachelor’s and Master‘s degree: an excellent academic degree is a good entrance statement for this position. Note, that while a Master’s degree is the usual legal prerequisite for a PhD position at the University of Vienna, we can consider Bachelors (preferentially with Honor’s) in exceptional cases, too.
• Via our  job portal/ Apply now -  button

If you have any questions, please contact:

Bernadett Weinzierl  

bernadett.weinzierl@univie.ac.at

We look forward to new personalities in our team! 
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

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​Application deadline: 02/24/2025 (MM-DD-YYYY)