Job Reference: 4977 & 4978
Application deadline: end of June 2026
Starting date:  1 September 2026
Where: Institute of Planetary Research, Rutherfordstraße 2 12489 (Berlin)
Duration of the contract:  36 months – Full-time (part-time possible)
Salary: up to German TVöD 13

Job Tasks 

The DLR Institute of Space Research in Berlin is a world-leading competence center for optical sensor systems and their application in planetary research, Earth observation and security. Based on this, we expand humanity’s understanding of the formation and development of our planetary system and find solutions to protect life on Earth.

These postdoctoral positions are located in the Institute of Planetary Research and are assigned to the department Extrasolar Planets and Atmospheres in close collaboration with the Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing group at FU Berlin.

The positions will contribute to the analysis and the exploitation of the scientific knowledge gained by the PLATO project. The launch of the satellite is scheduled for beginning of 2027 and the positions include activities during the in-orbit calibration phase and start of nominal science operations.

As described in the online formular, the candidates will focus:

• On the scientific validation of the PLATO mission instrument (job offer), in particular the assessment of the scientific performance of the PLATO mission, demonstrating and verifying the overall performance of the PLATO project during the various mission phases and in particular during instrument calibration.
• On the development and testing of scientific tools relevant for the science of the PLATO mission (job offer). The aim of this coordinate and scientifically validate the work related to the improvements and updates on planet detection methods with PLATO to ensure that the PLATO mission achieves its scientific objectives.

Profile’s requirements 

The application details are provided in the links above. 

How to apply 

Applications shall be submitted through the DLR portal by end of June 2026.