Vacancy

Our Mission: Discovering and describing life and earth - with people, through dialogue.

The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN) is an excellent and integrated research museum of the Leibniz Association with an international reputation and globally networked research infrastructure. It is active in three closely interlinked fields: collection-based research, collection development and cataloguing, and research-based public and educational work. Over the next ten years, the Museum für Naturkunde will realise its plan for the future. New laboratories and jobs for cutting-edge research will be created. At the same time, one of the world's most comprehensive natural history collections with over 30 million objects will be housed in modern collection buildings and completely digitised in the process. The implementation of the Future Plan, funded with a total of 660 million euros from the Federal Government and the State of Berlin, will only succeed with strong interdisciplinary national and international partners.

Become part of our team as

Position: Technical Assistant (f/m/d)
Work schedule: 100% of the regular weekly working hours
Duration: as soon as possible for a period of 24 months, a permanent contract is being sought
Salary Level: E 9b TV-L
Code: 19/2026

Project Description

Researchers in the Department of Solar System, Impacts, and Meteorites are investigating how processes within the Solar System have shaped the Earth’s evolution. Asteroids, meteorites, and cosmic dust provide insights into the formation of the planets, their composition, and the conditions under which Earth became habitable. To this end, we analyze samples from impact craters, sediments, meteorites, and micrometeorites, as well as samples from space missions, using techniques such as electron microscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Re-searchers in the Department of Evolutionary Morphology investigate the evolution of architectural plans and central body structures in plants and animals. The focus is on how these characteristics arose, how they have changed over geological eras, and how they have shaped interactions with the environment and ecosystems.

Among the primary analytical methods used in both departments are electron microscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, which are employed in the Geochemical and Microanalytical Laboratory Complex and the Integrated Zoological Research Laboratory of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin to analyze the chemical composition and microstructure of rocks, minerals, meteorites, and fossils, as well as for morphological and histological examinations of zoological specimens. In the future, the electron microscopy laboratories and the micro-X-ray fluo-rescence laboratories of both research complexes are to be consolidated into a new, integrated laboratory.

Your tasks

• Conducting advanced microanalytical examinations of natural history specimens using electron microscopes and X-ray fluorescence spectrometers in the laboratory
• Preparation of complex biological, organic, and inorganic sample materials of high scientific value (e.g., type specimens, rare meteorites, and sensitive samples from space missions)
• Quality control of microchemical analyses through regular testing of reference materials and analytical standards, and evaluation of the corresponding results
• Laboratory organization
• Overseeing and organizing basic laboratory supplies and occupational safety measures, as well as conducting safety and usage training for laboratory users

Your profile

• Completed training as a physical-technical assistant, chemical-technical assistant, or biological-technical assistant, or a comparable qualification
• Extensive methodological knowledge in the fields of electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and the use of database and spreadsheet systems
• Basic knowledge of the physical and chemical processes involved in X-ray fluorescence analysis
• Practical experience in the use of analytical electron microscopy for the structural and chemical analysis of solid-phase samples (preferably minerals) or biological materials (e.g., tissue sections)
• Organizational skills and a strong ability to structure work
• Ability to work in a team
• Very good written and spoken English
• Good basic practical knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

We offer you

• exciting working environment in an attractive research museum with varied tasks in a dynamic and future-orientated market
• very good public transport connections in the centre of Berlin
• extensive further training opportunities on a personal and professional level
• flexible working hours and a wide range of options for balancing work and family life (e.g. flexi-time or individual part-time models)
• depending on the job, mobile working is possible for up to 60 per cent of individual working hours
• remuneration according to TV-L with company pension scheme (VBL), special annual payment and capital-forming benefits
• employer subsidy for the “VBB Firmenticket” (company ticket) or “Deutschlandticket Job” (Germany ticket job)
• employee events, company health management and German and English language courses
• 30 days' holiday plus 24 December and 31 December off

Special Notes

In support of equal rights applications from qualified women are particularly welcome. Handicapped individuals will be given preference in cases of identical qualifications.

We look forward to receiving your application with the usual documents (cover letter, curriculum vitae, certificates) by 15.07.2026, preferably via our online application portal.

For information on the application procedure, please contact .

**Further information

Privacy Policy**
By sending your application, you provide us with your information for the purpose of processing your application by the Museum für Naturkunde. Your data will be kept strictly confidential at all times. Once we have received your application documents, they will be entered into our database. Your data will be stored on our server. In doing so, we observe the provisions of the data protection laws.
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Family Policy
The Museum für Naturkunde has set itself the goal of promoting a work-life balance and has been awarded the certificate berufundfamilie audit of berufundfamilie gGmbH - an initiative of the Hertie Foundation. Further information can be found under: https://www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/uber-uns/jobs-und-karriere/arbeiten-am-museum-fur-naturkunde/reconciling-work-and-family-life-audit