The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.At the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BioEnv) we have teaching and research activities that stretch from the alpine ecosystem, through forests, cultivated land and streams, all the way into the marine environment. In these environments we study different levels of biological organisation from genes, individuals and populations, to communities and ecosystems. We work within ecology, evolution, physiology, systematics and combinations of these fields in order to understand the impact of natural and anthropogenic changes of the environment.

The department is placed at two different localities: in Natrium at Medicinaregatan 7B in Gothenburg and at the Kristineberg marine research station operated by the Marine Infrastructure at the University of Gothenburg. The current position is placed at Natrium.

  

Subject area description 
The International Tundra Experiment, with its standardised warming treatments and protocols, has revealed that the tundra vegetation will grow taller, increase in biomass and shift composition. This change in vegetation composition and structure is bound to influence the ecosystem’s carbon balance, increasing productivity and respiration rates. A recent effort looking at ecosystem respiration using the TundraFlux database showed that a modest warming of air temperatures (1.4 °C) generated a 30% increase in ecosystem respiration (Maes et al., 2024). So far, the sequestration rates (carbon sink strength) have been overlooked in synthesis efforts, despite their critical role in shaping carbon dynamics. Especially data from long-term manipulation experiments, mimicking a future climate, have been less used when it comes to carbon balance, where soil moisture or shortage in soil water availability (heavily dependent on meltwater from winter snow) is overlooked as a driver for carbon processes.

This postdoc position, which is a combination of funding from the strategic research area BECC – Biodiversity and Ecosystem services under Climate Change and Hasselbladstiftelsen, will update and utilize the TundraFlux database as well as the extended ITEX database (ITEX+) and the Tundra Trait database to investigate warming and soil moisture effect on the Arctic carbon dynamics, including gross primary production. Additional data from remote sensing will be used to generate uniform environmental drivers of tundra carbon dynamics. This is a collaboration across departments at the University of Gothenburg, but also across universities and research groups within ITEX and the TundraFlux database contributors, with a strong link to Umeå University and KU Leuven, among others.

 

Duties 
This employment will combine aspects of biogeochemistry, Arctic carbon balance, climate change ecology, remote sensing and quantitative ecology to conduct multi-site syntheses of ecological and biogeochemical data, including:

• addressing novel questions related to how environmental change drives shifts in the biochemical cycles with a focus on the carbon balance in the warming Arctic and Alpine tundra ecosystems
• compilation, merging, management and manipulation of large, complex datasets - including correspondence with data collectors and collaborators
• using advanced quantitative methods (including meta-analysis) to analyse datasets in R (preferred) or another programming language; version control and code-sharing using GitHub
• writing scientific manuscripts to present the results of this research in a clear, impactful way

In addition to research, a postdoc can assist in teaching (up to a maximum of 20% of the time) if desired and teaching is needed at the department. Fieldwork is not anticipated for this position but may be possible if desired.

 
Eligibility 
The eligibility criteria for employing teaching staff are set out in Chapter 4 of the Higher Education Ordinance and in the Appointment Procedure for Teaching Posts at the University of Gothenburg.  

To be eligible for appointment as a postdoc, the applicant is required to have a doctoral degree, a doctoral degree in art or a foreign degree that is deemed to be equivalent to a doctoral degree. This eligibility requirement must be met before the employment decision is made. 

In the first instance, those who have completed their degree no more than three years prior to the end of the application period shall be considered. Those who have completed their degree more than three years prior to the end of the application period may also be considered in the first instance if special grounds exist. Special grounds relate to leave of absence due to illness, parental leave, commissions of trust within union organisations, service within the defence services or other similar circumstances, as well as clinical service or service/assignment relevant to the subject area.  

 

For more information and application 
Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal by clicking the “Apply” button. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline, https://web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/1035/job?site=7&lang=UK&validator=9b89bead79bb7258ad55c8d75228e5b7&job_id=35903.

 

Applications must be received by: December 19th, 2024

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.