Postdoc in ungulate microbiology
Are you interested in how Arctic ungulates, such as the muskox, respond to climate change? And how their rumen microbiome may influence their ability to adapt to changes in their plant forage? Applications are invited for a 2-year postdoc position in ungulate microbial ecology at the Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark.
Expected start date and duration of employment
This is a 2-year, full-time position starting on 1 February 2024.
Job description
The candidate will be part of the research project Functional implications of changes in the rumen microbiome (MICROFUNC), focusing on the responses of the muskox rumen microbiome and its functions to changes in plant quality. The project includes experimental and lab work conducted in Fairbanks, Alaska, and additional lab analyses in Roskilde, Denmark and Umeå, Sweden. The successful candidate will lead the experimental work and the concomitant metabarcoding, metabolomics and other lab analyses.
The position is ideally suited to postdocs with interests in ungulate ecology, molecular microbiology, and metabolomics.
Your profile
Furthermore, we prefer candidates with some of the following qualifications:
- Strong background in microbiome metabarcoding, metabolomics and other omics-methods as well as the related bioinformatics
- Strong R skills
- Experience with ungulate ecology
- Experience in publishing scientific results in high-quality international journals
- Extensive collaboration and teamwork skills
- Good English skills
The Department of Ecoscience is engaged in research programs and advisory work covering the major biological subdisciplines. We conduct world-class research within biology and ecology, biodiversity, conservation biology, wildlife management, particularly in arctic regions. The Department currently employs approximately 275 academic and technical staff, as well as many PhD students.
The successful candidate will work in a collaborative and internationally engaged scientific environment at the Section for Arctic Ecosystem Ecology (for more information see: https://ecos.au.dk/en/researchconsultancy/research-areas/arctic-ecosystem-ecology).
The department is, and wishes to continue to be, an active, diverse and inspiring workplace with exciting challenges, enthusiastic colleagues and academic opportunities for development. The department wishes to support employees in creating a good balance between their work and home lives and to maintain and attract skilled and committed staff, where freedom, creativity and respect for the long-term perspective are core values. For more information on the Department see: http://ecos.au.dk/en/.
What we offer
The department offers:
- a well-developed research infrastructure
- an exciting interdisciplinary environment with many national, international, and industrial collaborators,
- collaboration within a strong research team with extensive experience in wildlife ecology, population ecology and modelling,
- a workplace characterised by professionalism, equality, and a healthy work-life balance.
Place of work and area of employment
The place of work is Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde (close to Copenhagen) with research stays at University of Fairbanks, Alaska, where the experimental muskox work will take place, and at University of Umeå, Sweden where the metabolomic analyses will be conducted. The microbiome metabolomics will be carried out at Department of Environmental Science at Aarhus University in Roskilde, Denmark. The affiliation will be with the Department of Ecoscience.
Contact information
For further information, please contact: Head of Section professor Niels Martin Schmidt, phone +45 4191 5664, email: nms@ecos.au.dk.
Application procedure
Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the appointment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. All applicants will be notified whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each applicant is given the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that concerns him/her self. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.
Letter of reference
If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.
Formalities and salary range
Technical Sciences refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.
Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.
Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.
Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.
Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here.
The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.
Please write in your application that you've seen the job at Jobfinder.