FPU2025 - PhD candidate interested in applying for FI/FPU fellowships in the DRYLAND project

The Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC) is seeking a motivated predoctoral candidate interested in applying for an FPU or FI fellowship to join the DRYLAND project. The research will focus on understanding how drought affects soil biogeochemical cycles and mountain water quality. The work will involve field sampling, laboratory experiments, data analysis, and ecosystem modelling, aiming to improve our understanding of ecosystem resilience to climate-induced water stress. DRYLAND aims to unravel how drought drives the mobilization of carbon, nutrients, and trace elements from high-mountain soils, and how these processes propagate to streams and rivers. The PhD project crosses scales and disciplines, combining: Lab experiments with undisturbed soil cores & advanced stable isotope (13C 15N) techniques, high-frequency sensor networks in mountain catchments (Aigtiestortes National Park), soil & water chemistry, microbial activity & greenhouse gas fluxes and data analysis & process-based modelling to predict water quality under climate change. This is a unique opportunity to work at the interface between soil microbial ecology, hydrology and global change science, contributing to a timely question: How do droughts reshape carbon and nutrient cycling in mountain ecosystems?