Download my full CV here.

Education

10/2018 - 07/2022 Ph.D. Computational Geodynamics at University of Mainz, Germany
10/2015 - 04/2018 M.Sc. Geoscience at University of Mainz, Germany
10/2012 - 03/2016 B.Sc. Geosceince at University of Mainz, Germany

Work experience

09/2025 - 10/2025 3-week research stay at ETH Zürich, Switzerland
- Code development
10/2022 - present Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Bayreuth, Germany
- Code development and execution
- Thermal runaway as a driver of deep earthquakes
- Scaling laws for the occurence and intensity of thermal runaway
- Supervision of two Ph.D. students
08/2022 - 09/2022 Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Mainz, Germany
- Code execution
- Geodynamic models of magmatic intrusion
10/2018 - 07/2022 Ph.D. Student at University of Mainz, Germany
- Code execution
- Geodynamic models of magmatic system dynamics
- Data-driven inversion for subsurface processes
- Parameterizing complex 3D geometries
04/2018 - 09/2018 Research Assistant at University of Mainz, Germany
- Code execution
- Geodynamic models of folding
04/2012 - 09/2013 Rubel & Partner, Wörrstadt, Germany
- Geotechnical field work
- Internship and minor job later on

Supervision

Tatjana Weiler, PhD thesis
- 12/2023 - present
- “Modelling of deep earthquake generation in the Hindu Kush”
- Co-supervisor
Danielle Silva Souza, PhD thesis
- 12/2023 - present
- “Experimental investigation of Antigorite dehydration reactions under deformation”
- Mentor
Hao Liu, PhD thesis
- 10/2023 - present
- “Geodynamic modelling of the Changbai magmatic system”
- External advisor
Muhammad Ilham Hamadi, Master thesis
- 04/2024 - 10/2024
- “Postseismic relaxation due to thermally activated ductile deformation”
- Main supervisor
Zornitsa Kunchova, Master thesis
- 06/2022 - 05/2023
- “Modelling of magmatic systems underneath the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes, Kamchatka”
- Co-supervisor
Elisabeth Walter, Bachelor thesis
- 10/2021 - 02/2022
- “Geophysical Modelling of Magma Induced Uplift at Campi Flegrei, Italy”
- Co-supervisor

Skills

Languages
- English, C2
- German, native speaker
Programming
- Julia (daily for 4 years)
- Matlab (daily for 5 years)
- Python (weekly for 2.5 years)
- C/C++, Bash (occasionally for 7 years)
Open-source software development
- DEDLoc (Julia)
  - 1D and 2D GPU-compatible thermomechanical code
  - Developed from scratch
- LaMEM (C)
  - Highly-parallelized CPU thermomechanical code
  - Added several features to the existing software
- geomIO (Matlab)
  - Software for the creation of 3D geometries from vector-graphics drawings
  - Added the possibility to automatically create variations for the volumes
- GeophysicalModelGenerator (Julia)
  - Software to jointly visualize and analyze different geophyiscal data sets
  - Added a few features such as forward modeling of gravity anomalies

Publications

Overcoming the numerical challenges owing to rapid ductile localization with DEDLoc (version 1.0.0)

Spang, A., Thielmann, M., Pranger, C., de Montserrat, A., & Räss, L. (2026). "Overcoming the numerical challenges owing to rapid ductile localization with DEDLoc (version 1.0.0)." Geoscientific Model Development. 19, 369–388, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-369-2026, 2026

Transient Propagation of Ductile Ruptures by Thermal Runaway

Spang, A., Thielmann, M., de Montserrat, A., & Duretz, T. (2025). "Transient Propagation of Ductile Ruptures by Thermal Runaway." Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 130, e2025JB031240. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JB031240

Hydration weakening and destruction of the North China Craton

Paul, J., Spang, A., & Piccolo, A. (2025). "Hydration weakening and destruction of the North China Craton." Tectonophysics. 230756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2025.230756

GeophysicalModelGenerator.jl: A Julia package to visualise geoscientific data and create numerical model setups

Kaus, B.J.P., Thielmann, M., Aellig, P., de Montserrat, A., de Siena, L., Frasunkiewicz, J., Fuchs, L., Piccolo, P., Ranocha, H., Riel, N., Schuler, C., Spang, A., & Weiler, T. (2024). "GeophysicalModelGenerator.jl: A Julia package to visualise geoscientific data and create numerical model setups." Journal of Open Source Software. 9(103), 6763. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.06763