Dear All

we have an opening for a post doctoral position for 1.5 years for a  
joint project between the Group of Plant Nutrition  
(www.pe.ipw.agrl.ethz.ch) and the Geological instiitue of the ETH   
Zürich

Job description: The Group of Plant Nutrition of the ETH Zurich is  
looking for a postdoctoral fellow to study the long term fluxes of  
phosphorus (P) in soil/plant/water systems. The objective of this  
project will be to establish a method to measure the natural  
abundance of oxygen 18 in phosphate groups  extracted from water,  
soils, plants, mineral fertilizers and manure, and to evaluate  
whether changes in delta 18O of phopshate can be used to track the  
transfer of phosphate from a compartment to the next (e.g. from the  
fertilizer, to the soil, to the plant, and to surface waters). This  
project will be a collaboration between E Frossard from the Group of  
Plant Nutrition who has an extensive knowledge on the cycle of P in  
soil/plant system using radioisotopes, and S Bernasconi from the  
Geological Institute who has extensive experience on the use of  
isotopes to study element fluxes at the ecosystem level. The isotope  
measurements will be done at the Geological Institute.

Education: Applicant must own a PhD degree with good knowledge on  
stable isotopes. Previous experience in analytical chemistry  
(processing of plant and soil samples, spectrophotometry,  
scintillation counting) is particularly welcome. The applicant should  
be able to independently design strategies to plan and undertake  
glasshouse experiments, field sampling, and process the samples in an  
accurate and strictly reproducible manner. Good statistical  
background and experience in modeling is expected.

Workplace: ETH Research Station Lindau (www.ipw.ethz.ch/eschikon) and  
the Geological Institute of the ETH Zurich

Start: January 2007
Duration: 1.5 years
Application deadline: 30 November 2006
Additional information: Fluency in English is indispensable.  
Knowledge of German and/or French is considered an advantage. The  
fellow will be under the responsibility of E Frossard in the Group of  
Plant Nutrition and under the responsibility of S Bernasconi in the  
geological institute. Salary will be according to ETH standards  
(~70kCHF annually). For further inquiries please contact E Frossard  
([log in to unmask]) or S Bernasconi  
([log in to unmask]).
Please send your application with curriculum vitae, list of  
publications, copy of the PhD, and the contact information of up to  
three persons (including their current e-mail addresses) willing to  
provide a letter of recommendation.

Send application to: Dr. Emmanuel Frossard, ETH Zurich, Institute of  
Plant Sciences, Research station Eschikon CH – 8315 Lindau (ZH),  
Switzerland, [log in to unmask]



---------------------------------------------------------------
ETH Zurich
PD Dr. Stefano Bernasconi
Geologisches Institut
CHN-E19.1
Universitätstr. 16
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland
Tel. ..41-44-632 3693
fax:  ..41-44-632 1075
e-mail: [log in to unmask]