Research Associates (PhD student or Postdoc, m/f/d) in the areas of Bird Diversity & Acoustic Monitoring and Insect Diversity & Camera-Based Monitoring

With more than 15,000 students and around 3,800 employees, Technische Universität Braunschweig is one of the leading technical universities in Germany. We stand for strategic, performance-oriented thinking and action, relevant research, dedicated teaching, and the successful transfer of knowledge and technology to business and society. We are firmly committed to family-friendliness and equal opportunity.

Our research priorities are Mobility, Engineering for Health, Metrology, and City of the Future. Strong engineering and natural sciences form our core disciplines, closely interlinked with economics, social sciences, education, and the humanities.

Our campus lies at the heart of one of Europe's most research-intensive regions. We collaborate successfully with more than 20 research institutions in our neighbourhood, as we do with our international partner universities.

As part of a new professorial appointment in the Division of Landscape Ecology at the Institute of Geoecology, we are seeking, starting as soon as possible, two

Research Associates (PhD student or Postdoc, m/f/d) in the areas of Bird Diversity & Acoustic Monitoring and Insect Diversity & Camera-Based Monitoring
(Pay grade EG 13 TV-L, 65% – 100%, depending on qualification)

Each position is fixed-term for three years. Depending on the successful applicant's qualifications, the position will be filled either as a PhD position (65%) or, if the doctorate has already been completed, as a postdoc position (100%). The positions are intended to support the qualification of early-career researchers and, where applicable, offer the opportunity to pursue a PhD or habilitation.

We study how environmental conditions and biotic interactions affect the biodiversity of communities across the entire land-use gradient – from nature reserves to city centres. Our focus is on plant, insect, and bird communities, their trophic and non-trophic interactions, and the resulting ecosystem functions and services. The existing division, with its established scientific staff, is being expanded thematically and in terms of personnel as part of this new appointment, through the positions advertised here as well as a technical position. We are a collegial team and offer considerable scope for shaping your own work. Through its integration into the Institute of Geoecology, as well as collaborations with other institutes at TU Braunschweig and the federal research institutions based here, this offers a particularly well-suited research environment for ecological research.

Your Tasks
Bird Diversity & Acoustic Monitoring

• You build up the divisions' capacity in digital bird diversity monitoring (acoustic monitoring, AI-based analysis, e.g. BirdNET, Perch) and contribute to procuring and setting up the corresponding equipment.
• You keep track of developments in existing AI models for acoustic bird species identification, trial new model versions and evaluate them comparatively, and validate the results using your own field recordings and identification experience.

Insect Diversity & Camera-Based Monitoring

• You establish camera-based insect monitoring as a method within the division and further develop it – building on existing camera traps from a predecessor project – and contribute to further developing the hardware and procuring additional equipment.
• You annotate image data and supervise student assistants in this task; you validate the results of AI models for automated insect identification in collaboration with AI experts from computer science.

For both positions

• You develop and pursue your own research projects on your thematic focus along the land-use gradient.
• You publish your research results and attend national and international conferences.
• You contribute, where possible, to the department's academic teaching (preparing and delivering courses, as well as supervising student theses).

Your Qualifications
Bird Diversity & Acoustic Monitoring

• You have excellent taxonomic knowledge of birds (visual and acoustic)
• You are technically minded and have experience with acoustic monitoring (passive acoustic monitoring)

Insect Diversity & Camera-Based Monitoring

• You have excellent, ideally broad species knowledge within insects.
• You are interested in technical solutions in the field of camera-based monitoring and their further development, and bring a basic understanding of and interest in ecological questions, particularly regarding which processes determine the composition of species communities.

For both positions

• You hold at least a completed Master's degree or a PhD in biology, ecology, environmental sciences, entomology, or a related field.
• You bring a competitive publication record appropriate to your career stage.
• You have competencies in quantitative ecology.
• You are flexible, resilient, and work well in a team.
• You have excellent English skills and at least everyday-level German skills.

What We Offer

• The opportunity to work on exciting, future-oriented research topics in an inspiring, interdisciplinary environment at the Institute of Geoecology, as part of the university community
• Scope to shape your own thematic focus, including involvement in procuring and/or further developing the respective monitoring equipment and sampling design
• A vibrant campus life in an international atmosphere, with numerous intercultural offerings and international collaborations
• Remuneration under the TV-L collective agreement (annual special payment, occupational pension scheme comparable to a company pension in the private sector), including 30 days of annual leave
• Flexible working and part-time models and a family-friendly university culture, certified since 2007 with the “Familiengerechte Hochschule” (family-friendly university) audit
• Special further-training opportunities for early-career researchers, the GradTUBS graduate academy, a postdoc programme, as well as further offerings from Central Staff Development and sports programmes

Further Information
We welcome applications from candidates of all nationalities. We also welcome applications from people with severe disabilities and will give them preference in the case of equal suitability. Please indicate this already in your application and enclose appropriate evidence. Furthermore, in accordance with the Lower Saxony Gender Equality Act (NGG), we are committed to fulfilling our equality mandate and strive to reduce underrepresentation, as defined by the NGG, in all areas and positions. We therefore particularly welcome applications from women.

For the purposes of conducting the application process, we store personal data. By submitting your application, you consent to your data being stored and processed electronically for application purposes in compliance with data protection regulations. Further information on data protection can be found in our privacy policy (in German) at https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/datenschutzerklaerung-bewerbungen.

We do not reimburse application costs.

Questions and Answers
If you have further questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Sebastian T. Meyer
by phone at +49 (0) 531 391 5629 or by email at s-t.meyer(at)tu-braunschweig.de.

Deadline for applications is October 26th, 2026.

Your Application
Please indicate in your application which of the two positions you are applying for, and submit the following documents:

• A letter of motivation (please address explicitly your relevant species knowledge – birds or insects, depending on the focus area)
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Contact details of two potential referees
• If available, a PDF of your two most important or most relevant own publications

If we have sparked your interest, please send your application with the documents listed above in PDF format, preferably by email to b.ashi(at)tu-braunschweig.de 

or by post to

Technische Universität Braunschweig
Institut für Geoökologie
Abteilung für Landschaftsökologie
Langer Kamp 19c
38106 Braunschweig

from: 14.09.2026
valid until: 26.10.2026