Masters Thesis in Soil Science

22.03.2026, Diplomarbeiten, Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten

Are you interested in soil properties and how soil supports biodiversity? Then this thesis is for you! We look for a motivated student to join our projects and be part of a soil campaign across different sites in Germany. As part of the project you will be able to use existing data and produce new one to link questions on how land use change affects soils and the biodiversity that inhabits them. The project can be tailored for bachelor, master thesis and mandatory internships.

Project: WaterWeb and ProPollSoil
At WaterWeb we are interested in exploring blue-green interactions under land use change. At ProPollSoil, we are interested in exploring connections between soil, ground-nesting pollinators, and the ground. At 3 sites in Germany, we will sample macroinvertebrates in rivers adjacent to agricultural plots along a land-use gradient, as well as bees. There are multiple opportunities to link soil structure to the fauna inhabiting the plots and to the ecosystem functions and processes, such as erosion, productivity, and fertility. You will have many datasets on soil, water, plant, and animal parameters at your disposal to develop an interesting research question.
Tasks
• Process Soil Samples from 180 plots from 3 sites in Germany to obtain soil aggregation parameters: Lab work with sieves of different sizes and organic matter decomposition using chemicals.
• Data synthesis and exploration of ecosystem functions and links between soil and biodiversity.

Profile
To be part of this project, you should be enrolled as a BSc or MSc student in biology, ecology, environmental, or agricultural sciences. You should have a strong interest in soil ecology. You should maintain a careful, reliable work style. You should have time available between May and September to do lab work most days of the week until all the samples are processed and your data are analysed.

We Offer
Training in soil sciences. Training in R Software and data synthesis. Opportunity to be part of publications as part of several interesting projects.
If you are interested in this position, please contact
Dr. Alejandra Parreno: Alejandra.parreno@tum.de (Chair of Plant-Insect Interactions), Dr. Steffen Schweizer: steffen.schweizer@tum.de (Chair of Soil Science), Dr. Thalea Stuckenberg: thalea.stuckenberg@uni-marburg.de (University of Marburg), with a CV and intention letter.

Kontakt: alejandra.parreno@tum.de