PhD position; f_m_x - Surface-groundwater interactions and groundwater resilience

GFZ is Germany's national centre for solid Earth research. We advance the understanding of dynamic processes to address global challenges, from mitigating the impacts of natural hazards and sustaining our habitat amid global change to responsibly managing georesources. We are part of the Helmholtz Association, the largest German scientific organisation. With around 1,200 employees as well as ca. 500 guest researchers, we contribute to the Helmholtz Research Field Earth and Environment, aligning cutting‑edge research with societal relevance and international collaboration.

Our work integrates multidisciplinary studies across Earth's system components, leveraging advanced technologies and infrastructure to research solutions and to transfer our knowledge to society. We are doing this according to our vision: “Taking the pulse of our Earth to safeguard a habitable planet”.

SOLVE sub-project HYDROCONNECT

This position is part of the project “Securing Terrestrial Water Cycles: the Helmholtz SO
lution Lab Elbe Ri
VE
r Basin (
SOLVE
)”, funded by the Helmholtz Association. SOLVE brings together expertise from seven Helmholtz Centres and 10 stakeholder institutions to develop a science‑based decision framework for the Elbe River catchment. The overarching goal is to identify and optimise water management practices that preserve or restore hydrological and biological connectivity.
We are looking for a candidate working on investigating the hydrological/hydrogeological connectivity in the Elbe River basin to assess groundwater resilience under climatic and water management scenarios. Activities will rely on coupled hydrological and groundwater modelling combined with machine learning techniques to quantify groundwater recharge and resilience to climate variability, predict possible developments under future climate change and thus providing guidance for its sustainable management.

The student will closely interact with other partners in SOLVE, and in particular in the sub‑project HYDROCONNECT, where soil moisture connectivity and its relationship with streamflow will be quantified using satellite data, and gravity‑based terrestrial water storage observations will be integrated with isotopic tracer methods and geophysical monitoring.

• Develop a hybrid framework to approximate groundwater recharge from distributed hydrologic model and translate it into groundwater table fluctuations (WTF) for its direct use in groundwater modelling
• Employ xAI to uncover the key climatic, land surface, and hydrogeological drivers underpinning the recharge–WTF dynamics and to reduce uncertainty in recharge estimation
• Introduce groundwater resilience analysis by linking recharge dynamics with aquifer response under stress scenarios
• 3D groundwater modelling assisted with XAI to test how resilient the aquifer is under different recharge–demand scenarios and to highlight controlling factors (climate variability, land cover …) influencing resilience
• Interpretation and publication of results in peer‑reviewed journals

• A Master's degree or a diploma in Physics, Mathematics or Geosciences is mandatory
• Knowledge of thermal‑hydraulic physical processes
• Knowledge in 3D hydrological and hydrogeological modelling and numerical methods
• Programming skills are an advantage
• Strong social and excellent communication skills
• Very good English language skills

• Ambitious and varied tasks in a dynamic and international research environment
• State‑of‑the‑art equipment
• Public service benefits
• Extensive training opportunities
• Professional career advice offered by our in‑house Career‑Centre
• Flexible working hours and conditions
• Support with finding a good work‑life balance offered by benefit@work
• Institute day‑care centre on site
• Working at the Albert Einstein Science Park on the Telegrafenberg in Potsdam
• Workplace within walking distance of Potsdam main train station, or just a short ride on the shuttle bus

Start date: Available from 1st February 2026
Fixed‑term: 36 months
Salary: The position is classed as salary group 13…