Staff scientist within fungal DNA metabarcoding and mycorrhizal ecology

A staff scientist position is available at the Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre (www.upsc.se): a stimulating research environment at Umeå University. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate to work within an interdisciplinary project investigating the diversity, biogeography, and environmental drivers of mycorrhizal fungi across contrasting climates, vegetation types, and land-use histories. The employment is full-time and is limited to 12 months. Starting date as soon as possible or according to agreement.

Project description

Mycorrhizal fungi play a central role in plant nutrition, ecosystem functioning, and soil processes, yet their diversity and distribution across large environmental gradients remain incompletely understood. This project integrates large-scale field sampling, DNA metabarcoding of fungal communities, and ecological modelling to investigate how climate, vegetation, and land management shape mycorrhizal fungal diversity and composition across contrasting ecosystems.

The project involves coordinated sampling of soil, plant, and air-derived fungal communities across broad geographic and environmental gradients, combined with high-throughput sequencing and downstream ecological analyses. A key focus of the staff scientist will be the optimisation and standardisation of molecular workflows for mycorrhizal fungi, ensuring robust, high-quality, and comparable datasets across sample types and regions. As staff scientist in this project you will work closely with national and international collaborators and contribute to the development of best-practice approaches for fungal DNA metabarcoding.

Qualifications

A doctoral degree in mycology, molecular ecology, plant-microbe interaction studies, or a similar subject is required for the position. 

Requirements

• Demonstrated expertise in environmental DNA workflows, including soil sampling, DNA extraction, PCR-based amplification, and preparation of samples for high-throughput sequencing.
• Proven experience coordinating and processing large numbers of environmental samples, with strong attention to quality control, documentation, and data management.
• Experience contributing to the analysis and interpretation of molecular community data and to the preparation of scientific manuscripts.
• A publication record in peer-reviewed journals commensurate with career stage in microbial, fungal, or molecular ecology.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within international and multidisciplinary research teams.
• Good communication skills in English, both written and spoken.

Merits

• Solid understanding of fungal community ecology; experience working with mycorrhizal or soil fungal systems is a strong advantage.
• Experience with large-scale or multi-site ecological studies.
• Familiarity with bioinformatic or statistical analyses of metabarcoding data.
• Experience from working in interdisciplinary research environments.

Application

The application should contain

• A personal letter that describes your qualifications, experiences, scientific interests, and motivation for application (max 2 pages).
• CV with full publication list.
• Certified copies of doctoral degree certificate or equivalent and other relevant degree certificates and grades.
• Other documents the applicant wishes to submit.

The application must be written in English (preferably) or Swedish. The application is made through our electronic recruitment system. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format. Log in to the system and apply via the button at the end of this page. The closing date is March 13, 2026

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Adam Frew (adam.frew@umu.se)