Doctoral student in Ecology/Fish Ecology

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The Department of Biology and Environmental Science is part of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. The research activities within this multidisciplinary department include the areas of aquatic ecology, cell and organism biology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, environmental science, environmental engineering and disease ecology.

Field of subject for the appointment: Ecology/Fish ecology

Placement city: Kalmar, Sweden

Job description

The timing of life-history events such as migration and reproduction (i.e. phenology) influences the environmental conditions that organisms experience during these stages, and can affect reproductive success and survival. Timing life-history stages to match whenever conditions are suitable is thus crucial for the success of individuals and populations. With environmental conditions and seasonality currently changing due to climate change, there is an urgent need of improving our understanding of whether and how environmental change, across and within years, may result in phenological mismatches with impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function. This 4-year, fully funded, PhD project investigates the consequences of changing environments on phenology, life-history traits, migration patterns, habitat utilization and species interactions of Baltic Sea coastal predators (e.g. pike, perch and cormorants).

We are looking for a skilled and motivated PhD student with a passion for fish ecology, spatial ecology, food web and/or movement ecology. The research will utilise a combination of remote biologging (acoustic and GPS transmitters on fish and birds respectively), molecular methods and manipulation experiments in both field and laboratory settings. This project is part of a larger multidisciplinary project within the Linnaeus University Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems EEMiS that seeks to understand the consequences of environmental change on phenology and interaction strengths across trophic levels in the coastal food web of the Baltic Sea.

According to the Higher Education Ordinance a person appointed to a doctoral studentship should primarily devote themselves to their own studies. An appointee may, however, work to a limited extent with education, research, artistic development, and administration. However, before a doctoral degree has been awarded, duties of this kind may not comprise more than 20% of a full-time post.

Requirements

A person fulfils the general entry requirements if they


• Has been awarded a degree on second-cycle (MSc) level,
• completed the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits, of which 60 credits on second-cycle level, or
• in other way, in Sweden or abroad, has acquired principally equivalent knowledge.

Specific requirements also include


• A high proficiency in written and spoken English.

Assessment grounds


• Documented experience working within Aquatic Ecology, Fish Ecology, Movement Ecology and/or Spatial Ecology.
• Experience of:

• Statistical analysis of big data
• Data management and R programming
• Remote biologging techniques (e.g. acoustic telemetry)
• Fieldwork
• Mechanistic laboratory and field experiments
• Molecular methods
• Scientific publishing


• Holding a driver’s license (class B)
• Experience of driving and working from boat
• Important personal qualities are to be creative, good at problem-solving, a team-worker, independent, resilient, and structured. 

For more information, please contact:

Head of department: Jonas Waldenström, jonas.waldenstrom@lnu.se

Research leader: Petter Tibblin, petter.tibblin@lnu.se.                       

HR partner: Leif Eriksson, leif.eriksson@lnu.se

Union representatives can be reached through the university switchboard: +46-(0)772-28 80 00.

To apply

The application (in English) should contain a CV (with telephone, e-mail, and contact details of two reference persons), documentation of exams and grades, and a description of motivation and experience relevant to the position.

Closing day for application is April 25, 2022. Start date will be as soon as possible


Linnaeus University has the ambition to utilize the qualities that an even gender distribution and diversity brings to the organization.

Please apply by clicking on the Apply button at the bottom of the ad. Applicants are requested to the application resolving CV, cover letter , a copy of a relevant essay , grades and certificates and other relevant documents. The applicant also requested to submit with their application a proposed research plan within the current area of research. All documents must be attached to digital in the application. The application and other documents shall be marked with the reference number. All documents cited must be received by the University no later than 24.00 (Local time in Sweden) on the closing day.