POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN APPLIED STATISTICS / QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGY

The Swedish Museum of Natural History (http://www.nrm.se) is one of the leading institutions of its kind in Europe. It combines a venerable tradition and unique collections with cutting-edge research in geology, paleontology and biology. The research at the Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics focuses on computational phylogenetics, population genetics and genomics. We run a DNA sequencing facility and host several national and international infrastructures. More information is available at http://www.nrm.se/en/forskningochsamlingar/bioinformatikochgenetik.9000580.html

The Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics is looking to fill a position of postdoctoral researcher in applied statistics/quantitative ecology.

The postdoc will be employed in the Insect Biome Atlas project (http://www.insectbiomeatlas.org), a five-year international project aimed at characterizing the diversity of insects in Sweden and Madagascar. The project uses metabarcoding of thousands of Malaise trap and soil samples to study the size, origins, structure and function of local and regional insect biomes. The IBA is a collaboration between the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Fredrik Ronquist), the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Tomas Roslin), Stockholm University (Ayco Tack), SciLifeLab/KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Anders Andersson), the Madagascar Biodiversity Centre (Brian Fisher, California Academy of Sciences) and Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland (Piotr Lukasik).

WORK TASKS
To answer questions related to the spatial and temporal drivers of species distributions and community patterns, the postdoc will apply joint species distribution modelling to a large data set on insect communities sampled across Sweden and Madagascar. They will then apply their understanding of spatial and temporal patterns to design a data-informed solution for how to monitor insects across Sweden and Madagascar. The position will be associated with the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in close collaboration with Tomas Roslin at SLU Uppsala and Ayco Tack at Stockholm University. The candidate is expected to spend time at each collaborating institution.

QUALIFICATIONS
The candidate must hold a Ph.D. degree in applied statistics, quantitative ecology, or a related field. Depending on when the candidate defended his/her PhD thesis, the official employment will either be as a postdoc or researcher. Previous experience with joint species distribution modelling and the handling of large datasets are requirements, as are strong and documented interpersonal skills. As additional merits we will consider:
• proven interest in biodiversity and community ecology
• advanced programming skills in R
• excellent communication skills in English
• a publication record strong for their academic age.


OTHER
The application should consist of a personal letter and a CV with a complete publication list (including submitted manuscripts) and the contact details of 2-3 references.