PhD student position in Environmental Science - Befattningen är under tillsättning eller redan tillsatt, och det är inte längre möjligt att lämna in en ansökan

PhD student position in Environmental Science
The Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (EMG) opens a 4-year PhD position. The position will start on September 1, 2018 or according to agreement. Application deadline is June 15, 2018.

Project description
Biota living in soils drive many important ecosystem services such as food production and greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, lack of long-term monitoring programs and fossil records makes historical changes in soil macrofauna and their response to perturbations largely unknown, and this knowledge gap makes it difficult to conduct sound predictions about soil functioning in past and future environments. This project will use state-of-the-art paleoecological techniques to reconstruct historical dynamics in soil macrofauna communities in Scandinavia. In addition, the project will use experiments conducted in the contemporary environment to assess the impact of macrofauna on soil processes and freshwater chemistry.

This project is in close collaboration with Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm and Swedish University of Agriculture.

Qualifications
The candidate is expected to have an academic background in ecology, molecular biology, soil science, environmental science or from similar fields. Experience in species identification of Scandinavian soil macrofauna or environmental DNA analyses are considered strong merits. The candidate should be highly motivated, independent and collaborative, and have a very good command in both oral and written English.

Prerequisites for PhD studies include 240 ECTS credits of higher education studies of which 60 ECTS credits should be on an advanced level (Master level), or an equivalent qualification from abroad. This position specifically requires 120 ECTS credits in a subject relevant the project. At least one course at second-cycle level in a subject that is central to the doctoral student's planned specialisation shall have been completed, as well an independent piece of work (degree project) with relevant specialisation of at least 15 credits.

Evaluation will be based on the individual letter, quality and relevance of master program, eventual publications and the interview. To be able to separate candidates with comparable merits we may choose to evaluate the candidate’s performance in a literature essay given after the interview.

Application
The application should include:

• A short letter (max 2 pages) describing your research interests and why you are interested in the position
• CV, including academic achievements
• Digital copies of Bachelor/Master thesis
• List of publications
• Certificates from higher education and other documentation that supports your application
• Contact information to three reference persons.

Your application must be registered in Umeå University’s recruitment system Varbi/MyNetwork (https://www.umu.se/en/work-with-us/) no later than June 15, 2018.

Other information
The principle supervisor to this project is Docent Jonatan Klaminder (jonatan.klaminder@umu.se) from EMG.

Salary: According to agreements for PhD students at Umeå University.

The Department of Ecology and Environment Sciences, Umeå University, performs research and research education in ecology, environmental science and physical geography. The department has ~120 co-workers of which 28 are PhD students. (www.emg.umu.se)