The Friedrich Schiller University Jena is a dynamic and innovation-driven university centrally located in Germany. With a broad range of disciplines, it shapes the future through excellent research and teaching. Its scientific excellence is reflected in the profile areas Light – Life – Liberty, which provide pioneering insights and sustainable solutions for the society of tomorrow. Through close collaborations with leading research institutions, innovative companies, and renowned cultural organizations, it advances interdisciplinary developments. With around 17,000 students and approximately 10,000 employees, it defines Jena as a vibrant, internationally connected city of science and innovation.
The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a world-leading centre for biodiversity science and focuses on understanding biodiversity on our planet. Founded in 2012 with funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG), iDiv has since grown to over 300 employees and 170 members. iDiv is largely funded by the three central German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. Their three universities in Halle, Jena and Leipzig operate the research centre in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH - UFZ. More information about iDiv: www.idiv.de.
In the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, we are looking for a
PhD student (m/f/d) in extinction risk modelling
commencing on 15 September 2026 or at the earliest opportunity thereafter.
We offer a 65% position (26 hours per week) on a fixed-term basis for 3 years. Workplace will be at iDiv in Leipzig.
The position will be part of the research group “Biodiversity in the Anthropocene (BinA)”. Our research focusses on large-scale biodiversity patterns of vertebrate species and higher taxa in time and space. We integrate datasets and approaches from macroecology, macroevolution, biogeography, and palaeontology, and aim to understand how biodiversity is distributed across the world today, how it has originated and changed through geological history, and how we can predict future biodiversity patterns under global change.
The position is part of the project “ExChange: Assessing species extinction risk from climate change in the past, present, and future”, funded by the German Research Foundation DFG, which aims to enhance understanding of species’ extinction risk from climate change in large-bodied terrestrial mammals. We will build on empirical analyses of the fossil record, present-day extinction risk, and extensive datasets of species’ traits to assess consistency and predictability of extinction through time. As part of a dynamic and international team in Leipzig and in cooperation with project partners at the University of Potsdam (Prof. Damaris Zurell and team), you will contribute to interdisciplinary research that links paleoecology, conservation biology, and theoretical ecology to inform solutions for the ongoing extinction crisis.