University Assistant Predoctoral - Research Platform SPACETRACE

The University of Vienna is a community of almost 11,000 individuals, including approximately 7,700 academic staff members, who passionately pursue answers to the profound questions that shape our future. They represent individuals driven by curiosity and a relentless pursuit of excellence. With us, they find the space to try things out and unfold their potential. Are you inspired by their passion and determination? We are currently seeking a/an

51 Faculty of Physics
Startdate: 01.09.2026 | Working hours: 30 | Collective bargaining agreement: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc)
Limited until: 31.08.2030
Reference no.: 6037

Are you interested in the intersection of spaceflight and experimental aerosol physics? 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:

The commercialization of space has led to a dramatic increase in rocket launches and satellites in Earth orbit – with largely unknown consequences for the atmosphere. Possible impacts include effects on the stratospheric ozone layer, the radiation balance of the Earth, and on ice cloud formation.

The research platform “Pollution of the Atmosphere by a Rapidly Growing Space Industry (SPACETRACE)” brings together researchers from three faculties with expertise in aerosol physics, atmospheric sciences, and social sciences to investigate the effects of emissions from rocket launches and the re-entry of space debris on the atmosphere, climate and society.

Within SPACETRACE, four PhD positions are available, one of which will be hosted within our group. This PhD project, announced here, will focus on investigating stratospheric aerosol particles, including those originating from space debris. You will analyze datasets from past and upcoming measurements with the NASA WB-57 high-altitude aircraft, and help collect new data with UNIVIE’s Cloud, Aerosol and Precipitation Spectrometer (CAPS) during future measurement campaigns within the framework of NOAA’s Earth’s Radiation Budget Initiative SABRE (Stratospheric Aerosol processes, Budget and Radiative Effects, https://csl.noaa.gov/projects/sabre/). Our instrument has a particular focus on coarse-mode aerosol particles (> 1 µm), which are of special interest due to their potential warming effect on the atmosphere. 

Your future tasks:

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

• You will be involved in unique research projects in which we collaborate with top scientific institutions such as NASA, NCAR 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 (e.g. 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:

Compulsory:

• Master's degree or Diploma degree in physics and/or aerosol-related topics such as atmospheric sciences, aerosol chemistry or meteorology
• Knowledge in atmospheric/aerosol physics and (in-field) experimental work
• Experience in programming (e.g. Python) to perform your data analysis
• An excellent command of written and spoken English (C1 or higher)
• Willingness to travel: internationally for measurement campaigns in the USA and other countries; trips with a typical duration of several weeks are necessary
• Willingness and ability to participate in research flights and operate instruments onboard during the research flights
• You are a team player with good social/communication skills as the goal will only be achieved in a team
• Class B driving license

Desirable:

• Experience with common aerosol particle detection and characterization techniques, especially with optical aerosol spectrometers, is considered an asset
• Experience in building experimental setups, instrument characterization and calibration
• Experience with in-field measurement campaigns, ideally airborne campaigns
• Initiative in finding solutions for technical and scientific problems

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 in the center of beautiful Vienna is easily accessible by public transport.

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 many relevant top research groups in the world.

Internal further training & coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3.776,10 (full-time basis, 14x p.a.) increases if we can credit professional experience. The duration of employment is 4 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 4 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.

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

It is that easy to apply:

• With your scientific curriculum vitae.
• A summary of your previous academic and research achievements.
• A short statement on your research interests for the future.
• 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 Bachelor's (preferentially with Honors) in exceptional cases, too.

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 place particular emphasis on enhancing women’s representation among the academic and general university staff, particularly in leadership roles, and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

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​Application deadline: 08/27/2026

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