Webinar on how to apply for US National Science Foundation grants (all career stages)

The Earth Science Women’s Network will be hosting a webinar later this month that might be of interest to you:
a virtual workshop on Monday, January 22^nd 2024, at 8:00-9:30 PM CET!

Get your questions answered by US National Science Foundation Program Officers!

How can you craft a strong proposal?
What makes a strong Broader Impact?
How do you find a program that fits your work?
This virtual workshop is open to all and will be particularly helpful to early-career to mid-career participants, especially graduate students, post-docs, researchers, and tenure-track faculty thinking about applying for NSF funding for the first time.

> Click here to register <

If you have any questions about ESWN’s events, you can email them at events[at]eswnonline[dot]org

Postdoctoral position at the Università della Tuscia (Viterbo, Italy)

The project, funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and to be carried out at the Università della Tuscia, has a primary objective focused on characterizing, from an astrobiological perspective, the geological context and microbiological communities within relatively underexplored environments, such as volcanic lakes. The study site will be the ‘Bagno dell’Acqua’ lake on Pantelleria Island, Sicily.
This study will be valuable in preparing for future Mars explorations, Mars Sample Return missions, and investigating the adaptability of life on Earth, its habitability, and the implications regarding the origin of life within such unique habitats.

Desired skills: microbiological laboratory practices. Proficiency in bioinformatics for metagenomic and metabarcoding approaches is highly desirable.

>> Click here to find the project (pdf n.22) <<
For information contact Prof. Laura Zucconi.

The deadline is January 15^th 2024, 1 PM (CEST)

PhD studentship on the origin of life at alkaline hydrothermal vents at Newcastle University (UK)

A PhD is available based at Newcastle University on the origin of life at alkaline hydrothermal vents, as part of the Iapetus2 Doctoral Training Scheme.

The student will use a set of state-of-the-art pressurised continuous flow hydrothermal reactors to mimic the mixing of hydrogen-rich alkaline hydrothermal vent fluids with carbon dioxide-rich seawater or freshwater over a range of different mineral substrates. They will extend exciting recent work on the successful generation of long chain fatty acids using this apparatus and assess the potential for generating a range of further biological relevant organic molecules.

This studentship aims to make a step change in our understanding of how life originated on our planet, and the potential for life to have started on other worlds.

>> Deadline: 15^th of January 2024 (12PM GMT) <<

Full details of the project and the application process can be found here.

For any questions.an informal chat, you can contact Dr. Jon Telling

Postdoctoral positions in metabolism and heredity at the origin of life at University College London (UCL, UK)

The Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE) at University College London (UCL) is seeking 24-month Research Fellows.

The project is funded by a BBSRC sLoLa grant entitled “Origins of Biology: How energy flow structures metabolism and heredity at the origin of life.” These fellowship positions could focus on experimental work, exploring the non-enzymatic synthesis or aqueous polymerization of small molecules relevant to protometabolism at the origin of life, or more theoretical work exploring the effect of models of heredity with selection at the level of the protocell.

Posts availability: from January 2024, funded for 2 years with possibilities for extension.

>> The deadline is January 8^th 2024 <<

Interview Date(s): January 2024.

This role is an open-ended contract with a funding end date of 30.01.2026 in the first instance.

>> Click here for more info about the post <<

Funded PhD studentships at the Natural History Museum in London (UK)

There are several PhD projects available at the Natural History Museum, for a September/October 2024 start. These projects are in the fields of meteorites, mineralogy, and remote sensing.

STFC projects: (up to 2 studentships)

UK Space Agency project: (guaranteed funding)

Mars meteorites and missions: Optimisation of spectral analyses for the ExoMars Rover

>> Deadline: 4^th of February 2024 <<

Full details of the application process, supervisors, and associated universities can be found on all the project pages.

Fully funded PhD studentships at the University of Stirling (Scotland, UK)

Fully funded PhD studentships in the realm of astrobiology and Mars exploration are available within the Earth and Planetary Observation Research Group at the University of Stirling.

Preservation of Organic Carbon Compounds and Potential Biosignatures by Reactive Iron Minerals on Mars (guaranteed funding from the UK Space Agency).
Carbon sequestration processes in the rusty carbon sink (competition-funded through UKRI NERC DTP Iapetus).

>> Start of programme: 1^st of October 2024 <<
>> Deadline: 5^th of January 2024 <<

Please contact Dr Christian Schroeder for further details and how to apply.

Fully funded PhD project at Dublin City University (Republic of Ireland)

Novel Biosignatures for Microfossil Interpretation

About the lab
The ProtoSigns Lab led by Dr. Seán Jordan in the School of Chemical Sciences at Dublin City University is at the forefront of pioneering research in the fields of Geobiology and Astrobiology. Their mission is to expand the experimental space for protocells, further our understanding of the origin of life on Earth, and develop innovative biosignatures for microfossil interpretation from Earth and beyond.

Position Overview:
This project aims to create a semi-automated microfluidic system, allowing for the rapid study of protocell formation, stability, and silicification under various environmental conditions. The resulting microstructures will undergo a suite of state-of-the-art analyses to generate a database of physical and chemical control data which will be statistically interrogated to identify novel biosignatures. The biosignatures will then be verified by applying them to geological microstructures from early Archean (ca. 3.5 billion years old) and Devonian (ca. 400 million years old) deposits. The successful candidate will contribute to the development of novel biosignatures and their application to microfossils from the early Earth and
potentially elsewhere in our Solar System.

Application deadline: 20^th November 2023
Start date: 8^th January 2024 (or as soon as possible thereafter)

For inquiries and to submit your application, please contact Dr. Seán Jordan

>> More details about the project can be found here <<

The Two-Body Problem in USA Academia

Are you considering applying for a faculty position in the USA this year? Facing a two-body problem? Worried if you should include this information in your application package, or during the interview?

The Earth Science Women’s Network will be hosting a webinar on November 7^th, 2023, at 2:00 pm Eastern Time (19:00 UTC) to answer all these questions and more. A panel of assistant/associate professors within multiple earth science disciplines will share their experiences and “lessons learned”. This workshop is geared towards graduate students and post-docs considering an academic career in the USA.

The panel includes:

Rachel Bernard – Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Amherst College
Alexandria Johnson – Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University
Katherine (Kat) Allen – Associate Professor, School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine
Maria Rugenstein – Assistant Professor, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University

There will also be an opportunity to network with our speakers after the panel discussion.

> Click here to register <

If you have any questions about ESWN’s events, you can email them at events[at]eswnonline[dot]org

Postdoctoral position in Atmosphere Microbial Habitability Modelling at Queen Mary University of London (UK)

The Earth Surface Science group at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) are seeking a 24-month PDRA to work on a Human Frontier Science Project (HFSP) funded project ‘The atmosphere: a living, breathing ecosystem?’. The project is a collaboration between QMUL’s School of Geography, the University of Guelph (Canada), Monash University (Australia) and Arizona State University (USA). The team aims to resolve the composition, capabilities, and activities of atmospheric microbes at a global scale, with the overall goal to distinguish whether the atmosphere exhibits structure and microbial activity characteristic of a true ecosystem, or if it is simply a passive dispersal medium for microorganisms.

The PDRA will develop theoretical modelling approaches (including bioenergetics calculations, power-based ecosystem modelling) to investigate the potential habitability and ecological structure and function of microbial communities in the atmosphere. The initial focus for the PDRA is to model the habitability and ecological processes occurring in Earth’s atmosphere, and then to translate the tools and knowledge generated to the atmosphere of other planetary bodies or exoplanets.

Application Deadline: 25th August 2023
Interviews are expected to be held in early September 2023

>> Click here for more info about the post <<

Fully funded PhD project at the University of Leicester (UK)

Developing a habitability index for Earth’s biosphere

Planet Earth has been continuously habitable for over 3 billion years. During that immense time the Earth has been subject to considerable environmental perturbation, resulting from both intrinsic and extrinsic forces. These range from the smaller-scale, such as solar radiation changes from orbital forcing mechanisms, to the very large scale, such as an asteroid strike. The biosphere has shown considerable resilience to environmental perturbation and provides the only quantifiable measure of habitability available to us in the Cosmos.

In this project, the group seeks to examine and quantify the response of the biosphere to different levels of perturbation.