The Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) is a research institute located in Oldenburg. It studies marine biodiversity and its importance for the function of marine ecosystems, the people linked to those ecosystems, and their governance. In doing so, it develops the basis for marine nature conservation and management. The HIFMB was founded in 2017 and is an institutional cooperation between the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), and the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg linked to the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) and Institute for Social Sciences (IfSol).
PostDoc in "Sustaining the keystone: Rethinking Antarctic krill fishery management under climate change" (f/d/m) (HIPP26 #2)
Background
Antarctica is often called the world’s last great wilderness, surrounded by a so-called ‘pristine’ ocean that harbours a highly diverse fauna of invertebrates, fish, birds, and mammals. This Southern Ocean covers nearly 10% of the world’s total ocean space. It is a habitat for over 10,000 known marine species. Politically, it is special in that the majority of the space represents Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). This means that much of the Southern Ocean is, theoretically, open to all nations and has no national-level governance. The region is currently governed through the international Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), with the Southern Ocean under the remit of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Today, Antarctica and its surrounding waters are experiencing an increasing intensity of commercial, scientific, and political developments. The Southern Ocean is no longer a remote region (if it ever was). Scientists, fishers, and tourists travel to Antarctica and its surrounding waters to explore it, and also, in some cases, to exploit it.
At the same time, the Southern Ocean, which plays a key role in regulating our climate through ocean currents, sea ice, and its ability to absorb heat and CO2 from the atmosphere, is undergoing climate-related changes. It is not beyond the reach of human-induced changes to our planet. In recent decades, environmental changes such as rising atmospheric and oceanic temperatures, reduced sea ice extent, ice shelf thinning, glacier retreat, and increasing ocean acidification have been observed. Record values have been reported, such as in February 2023, when the lowest sea ice extent since satellite observations began in 1979 was recorded at just 2.01 million km. These environmental changes are having profound biological effects, including changes in primary production, community composition, and poleward shifts of species. Species that are endemic to the high southern latitudes and specially adapted to cold conditions are particularly vulnerable, as their habitats with optimal environmental conditions become increasingly scarce. All in all, these ongoing changes highlight the urgent need to rethink the management of this unique region, ensuring that it remains resilient in the face of both human pressures and climate change.
We invite applications for four positions, under the umbrella topic “The dilemma of the Southern Ocean: Ecosystems, sustainability and competing interests at the edge of the world" covering natural and social science perspectives, that will cohere around the ‘dilemma’ facing the Southern Ocean: how competing interests impact its governance, but also drive the need for greater science to understand its changes.
Postdocs in the cohort will undertake independent projects in collaboration with a Principal Investigator (PI) and relevant staff, while also meeting as a unit to work together on joint goals related to the overarching research topic. The Southern Ocean focus is well supported by a recent Antarctic Strategy at the Alfred Wegener Institute and its long-term investment in polar science, as well as its engagement in providing the best available science to policymakers in CCAMLR.
The HIPP (HIFMB Integrative Postdoc Pool) is also designed to allow networking between (marine) institutions. We therefore offer the possibility for candidates to foster external relationships, or in consultation, to bring in additional advisors from institutions outside of HIFMB. HIFMB continues to strive for transformation and to bridge the science-policy interface. Therefore, experience or interest in transfer activities is a plus.
Project #2: Sustaining the keystone: Rethinking Antarctic krill fishery management under climate change
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a keystone species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, essential for the survival of many species’ that depend on it. This ecologically critical species is also the target species of the largest and fastest growing fishery in the Southern Ocean, regulated by CCAMLR. CCAMLR aims to manage this fishery sustainably, relying on ecosystem-based approaches incorporating data on predator population, ecosystem state, and krill biomass and distribution. The krill fishery is concentrated in the southwest Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean (CCAMLR Area 48), a krill hotspot that supports many krill-dependent air-breathing predators, including penguins, seals, and baleen whales. Simultaneously, this region is experiencing rapid warming and ecological shifts, including in krill biomass. In Subarea 48.1, at the Antarctic Peninsula, krill fishery catches have risen steadily, with the annual allowable catch limit reached 10 times in the past 13 years, intensifying fishing pressure in neighbouring Subareas, such as 48.2 (South Orkney Islands). A critical development occurred during the October 2024 CCAMLR meeting: the expiration of Conservation Measure (CM) 51-07, which previously mandated that the maximum annual allowable catch of 620.000 t be spatially distributed among Subareas 48.1 to 48.4. With no consensus among member states to renew this measure, the fishery now has unrestricted spatial allocation within area 48, heightening concerns over localised overexploitation.
Antarctica is often called the world’s last great wilderness, surrounded by a so-called ‘pristine’ ocean that harbours a highly diverse fauna of invertebrates, fish, birds, and mammals. This Southern Ocean covers nearly 10% of the world’s total ocean space. It is a habitat for over 10,000 known marine species. Politically, it is special in that the majority of the space represents Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ). This means that much of the Southern Ocean is, theoretically, open to all nations and has no national-level governance. The region is currently governed through the international Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), with the Southern Ocean under the remit of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Today, Antarctica and its surrounding waters are experiencing an increasing intensity of commercial, scientific, and political developments. The Southern Ocean is no longer a remote region (if it ever was). Scientists, fishers, and tourists travel to Antarctica and its surrounding waters to explore it, and also, in some cases, to exploit it.
At the same time, the Southern Ocean, which plays a key role in regulating our climate through ocean currents, sea ice, and its ability to absorb heat and CO2 from the atmosphere, is undergoing climate-related changes. It is not beyond the reach of human-induced changes to our planet. In recent decades, environmental changes such as rising atmospheric and oceanic temperatures, reduced sea ice extent, ice shelf thinning, glacier retreat, and increasing ocean acidification have been observed. Record values have been reported, such as in February 2023, when the lowest sea ice extent since satellite observations began in 1979 was recorded at just 2.01 million km. These environmental changes are having profound biological effects, including changes in primary production, community composition, and poleward shifts of species. Species that are endemic to the high southern latitudes and specially adapted to cold conditions are particularly vulnerable, as their habitats with optimal environmental conditions become increasingly scarce. All in all, these ongoing changes highlight the urgent need to rethink the management of this unique region, ensuring that it remains resilient in the face of both human pressures and climate change.
We invite applications for four positions, under the umbrella topic “The dilemma of the Southern Ocean: Ecosystems, sustainability and competing interests at the edge of the world" covering natural and social science perspectives, that will cohere around the ‘dilemma’ facing the Southern Ocean: how competing interests impact its governance, but also drive the need for greater science to understand its changes.
Postdocs in the cohort will undertake independent projects in collaboration with a Principal Investigator (PI) and relevant staff, while also meeting as a unit to work together on joint goals related to the overarching research topic. The Southern Ocean focus is well supported by a recent Antarctic Strategy at the Alfred Wegener Institute and its long-term investment in polar science, as well as its engagement in providing the best available science to policymakers in CCAMLR.
The HIPP (HIFMB Integrative Postdoc Pool) is also designed to allow networking between (marine) institutions. We therefore offer the possibility for candidates to foster external relationships, or in consultation, to bring in additional advisors from institutions outside of HIFMB. HIFMB continues to strive for transformation and to bridge the science-policy interface. Therefore, experience or interest in transfer activities is a plus.
Project #2: Sustaining the keystone: Rethinking Antarctic krill fishery management under climate change
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a keystone species in the Southern Ocean ecosystem, essential for the survival of many species’ that depend on it. This ecologically critical species is also the target species of the largest and fastest growing fishery in the Southern Ocean, regulated by CCAMLR. CCAMLR aims to manage this fishery sustainably, relying on ecosystem-based approaches incorporating data on predator population, ecosystem state, and krill biomass and distribution. The krill fishery is concentrated in the southwest Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean (CCAMLR Area 48), a krill hotspot that supports many krill-dependent air-breathing predators, including penguins, seals, and baleen whales. Simultaneously, this region is experiencing rapid warming and ecological shifts, including in krill biomass. In Subarea 48.1, at the Antarctic Peninsula, krill fishery catches have risen steadily, with the annual allowable catch limit reached 10 times in the past 13 years, intensifying fishing pressure in neighbouring Subareas, such as 48.2 (South Orkney Islands). A critical development occurred during the October 2024 CCAMLR meeting: the expiration of Conservation Measure (CM) 51-07, which previously mandated that the maximum annual allowable catch of 620.000 t be spatially distributed among Subareas 48.1 to 48.4. With no consensus among member states to renew this measure, the fishery now has unrestricted spatial allocation within area 48, heightening concerns over localised overexploitation.
Your Tasks
This project will investigate krill fishing activities before and after the expiration of conservation measure 51-07 in CCAMLR fishing area 48 in conjunction with existing conservation measures, including those implemented by the fishing industry voluntarily. In addition, the project requires addressing and answering key questions regarding krill fishery management, such as:
You’ll be working in the Southern Ocean Conservation and Governance Group. The post offers membership to the HIPP cohort and wider HIFMB postgraduate community and the candidate will become part of the Working Group Ecophysiology of Pelagic Key Species.
Further details:
As a Helmholtz Institute, the HIFMB contributes to one of the Helmholtz Research Programs (currently ‘Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future’) as part of a particular topic (6, Marine and Polar Life). The cohort work will directly contribute to the scope and challenges of topic 6 by researching how marine ecosystems will adapt and respond to human impacts (e.g., fishing, tourism), and by assessing options to remedy and mitigate human impacts.
Within topic 6, this cohort work attends especially to subtopic 6.1, which is central to the HIFMB mission on "Future Ecosystem Functionality," and subtopic 6.4, "Use and Misuse of the Ocean." Within subtopic 6.1, it aims to work towards the central goal of understanding biodiversity change and its human impacts and effects, while investigating new and evaluating existing concepts for marine conservation and marine governance. Additionally, the emission of anthropogenic noise places significant additional pressure on the Antarctic ecosystem. The work of the cohort contributes to deliverables aimed at improving the projection capabilities of future marine biodiversity and its role in maintaining key ecosystem functions, such as productivity, and strategies for the sustainable management of selected marine ecosystems.
This project will investigate krill fishing activities before and after the expiration of conservation measure 51-07 in CCAMLR fishing area 48 in conjunction with existing conservation measures, including those implemented by the fishing industry voluntarily. In addition, the project requires addressing and answering key questions regarding krill fishery management, such as:
- Does the current management concept adequately address the emerging challenges posed by climate change and a fast-growing fishery?
- How can the management concept be improved, potentially by learning from management concepts of other global fishries?
- How can an improved management concept be effectively implemented in CCAMLR?
You’ll be working in the Southern Ocean Conservation and Governance Group. The post offers membership to the HIPP cohort and wider HIFMB postgraduate community and the candidate will become part of the Working Group Ecophysiology of Pelagic Key Species.
Further details:
As a Helmholtz Institute, the HIFMB contributes to one of the Helmholtz Research Programs (currently ‘Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future’) as part of a particular topic (6, Marine and Polar Life). The cohort work will directly contribute to the scope and challenges of topic 6 by researching how marine ecosystems will adapt and respond to human impacts (e.g., fishing, tourism), and by assessing options to remedy and mitigate human impacts.
Within topic 6, this cohort work attends especially to subtopic 6.1, which is central to the HIFMB mission on "Future Ecosystem Functionality," and subtopic 6.4, "Use and Misuse of the Ocean." Within subtopic 6.1, it aims to work towards the central goal of understanding biodiversity change and its human impacts and effects, while investigating new and evaluating existing concepts for marine conservation and marine governance. Additionally, the emission of anthropogenic noise places significant additional pressure on the Antarctic ecosystem. The work of the cohort contributes to deliverables aimed at improving the projection capabilities of future marine biodiversity and its role in maintaining key ecosystem functions, such as productivity, and strategies for the sustainable management of selected marine ecosystems.
Your Profile
- A PhD in marine biology, conservation biology, fishery management & conservation, or related fields
- A strong background in handling large data sets, programming (preferably in R), statistical analysis, modelling, and mapping
- Highly motivated and eager to work in an interdisciplinary marine research context
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across disciplines
- Very good English knowledge (approximately equivalent to CEFR level C1).
- A background in Antarctic research is a plus, though not required
Further Information
For any questions you may have, you are very welcome to get in touch with Prof Dr Bettina Meyer (Bettina.Meyer@awi.de; +49(471)4831-1378). If you have any questions about the application procedure, please feel free to contact Ruth Krause (ruth.krause@hifmb.de).
This is a full-time position, limited to 3 years. It is also suitable for part-time employment. The salary will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federation (Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes, TVöD Bund), up to salary level 13. The place of employment will be Oldenburg.
All postdocs will register with AWI's postdoc office PROCEED and thus gain access to a set of tailor-made career development tools.
For any questions you may have, you are very welcome to get in touch with Prof Dr Bettina Meyer (Bettina.Meyer@awi.de; +49(471)4831-1378). If you have any questions about the application procedure, please feel free to contact Ruth Krause (ruth.krause@hifmb.de).
This is a full-time position, limited to 3 years. It is also suitable for part-time employment. The salary will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federation (Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes, TVöD Bund), up to salary level 13. The place of employment will be Oldenburg.
All postdocs will register with AWI's postdoc office PROCEED and thus gain access to a set of tailor-made career development tools.
The AWI is characterized by
- our scientific success - excellent research
- collaboration and cooperation - intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary
- opportunities to develop – on the job and towards other positions
- an international environment – everyday contact with people from all over the world
- flexible working hours
- health promotion and company fitness
- support services and a culture of reconciling work and family
- occupational pension provision (VBL)
AWI values diversity and actively promotes gender parity, as well as an open, inclusive environment that provides equal opportunities. We are convinced that diverse teams and a variety of perspectives enrich our work and our daily collaboration. In a continuous process of learning and reflection, we aim to ensure that all our employees can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging. We welcome applications from qualified people regardless of binary and non-binary genders, race and nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, age, physical abilities, neurodivergence, sexual orientation, and other identities.
Applicants with disabilities will be given preference when equal qualifications are present.
Applicants with disabilities will be given preference when equal qualifications are present.
AWI fosters work-family compatibility in various ways and has received several awards as a result of this commitment. And as a new international member of our team, you can be sure that we will help you settle in. Our Family Office and International Office will be glad to support you, even before you start at AWI.
We look forward to your application!
Please submit your application by August 24th, 2025 exclusively online.
Interviews are planned for the mid until end of September, 2025, in Oldenburg or online.
Employment for this post is subject to the provisions of the German Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Academia (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz – WissZeitVG). According to WissZeitVG § 2.1, researchers may in general be employed in Germany on fixed-term contracts for a maximum of twelve years before and after their doctorate. Previous academic fixed-term employment in Germany counts, in principle, towards this maximum limit, while academic positions abroad usually do not.
Applicants are required to submit an extended cover letter (max. 2 pages) describing their fit to the position and criteria, and complete the template CV provided (please do not submit a CV not in this format).
If you are applying from abroad and are interested in academic positions in Germany, it may generally be helpful to check and possibly have your degrees recognized in advance via the ANABIN database (https://anabin.kmk.org/cms/public/startseite).
Reference number: 25/64/G/HIPP-b
Please submit your application by August 24th, 2025 exclusively online.
Interviews are planned for the mid until end of September, 2025, in Oldenburg or online.
Employment for this post is subject to the provisions of the German Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Academia (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz – WissZeitVG). According to WissZeitVG § 2.1, researchers may in general be employed in Germany on fixed-term contracts for a maximum of twelve years before and after their doctorate. Previous academic fixed-term employment in Germany counts, in principle, towards this maximum limit, while academic positions abroad usually do not.
Applicants are required to submit an extended cover letter (max. 2 pages) describing their fit to the position and criteria, and complete the template CV provided (please do not submit a CV not in this format).
If you are applying from abroad and are interested in academic positions in Germany, it may generally be helpful to check and possibly have your degrees recognized in advance via the ANABIN database (https://anabin.kmk.org/cms/public/startseite).
Reference number: 25/64/G/HIPP-b