Postdoctoral researcher in Plant Ecology

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 47 500 students and 6 400 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract scientists 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 three different localities: in Gothenburg Botanical garden, at Medicinarberget in Gothenburg, and at the marine research station-Kristineberg. The current position is placed at the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens.

Project description
Climate warming is happening faster in Arctic and alpine regions than anywhere else on the planet, yet we are only beginning to understand the consequences of this rapid change for tundra ecosystems. The overall aim of this research project is to understand how environmental change, particularly climate warming, will impact tundra plant communities and the functioning of tundra ecosystems. The project will combine aspects of community, functional, and evolutionary ecology to explore the potential for functional traits to predict species’ responses to temperature variation over space and time. Of particular interest is the influence of phenotypic plasticity in predicting shifts in species’ abundances in response to warming. We will use a combination of field work (e.g. reciprocal transplant & common garden experiments) at one or more Arctic or alpine locations as well as data synthesis using biome-wide datasets of plant traits (the Tundra Trait Team; https://tundratraitteam.github.io) and plant community monitoring (ITEX; https://www.gvsu.edu/itex/).

The postdoctoral researcher will be hosted in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Anne Bjorkman. There will be ample opportunity for collaboration with other scientists in the Biological & Environmental Sciences and Earth Sciences departments at the University of Gothenburg, as well as at other institutions in Sweden and internationally.

Job assignments
This employment will combine aspects of plant ecology, global change ecology, ecosystem ecology, and quantitative ecology, including:


• understanding factors that influence the composition and diversity of plant communities across spatial and temporal scales
• attributing aspects of tundra vegetation change to specific drivers (e.g. climate change) using long-term monitoring and experimental methods, including new data collection at Arctic field sites
• investigating the consequences of change in plant communities for tundra ecosystem functions such as carbon cycling
• using quantitative methods to appropriately handle large, hierarchical datasets (e.g. Bayesian hierarchical modeling) in R (preferred) or another programming language; version control and code-sharing using GitHub

Short periods of fieldwork at one or more Arctic locations may be required.

Eligibility
The applicant must hold a PhD degree in an area relevant for the tasks at hand (e.g. Biology, Biogeography) or a foreign exam substantially equivalent to a PhD degree in a relevant subject. Preference will be given to candidates who have been awarded the degree no more than three years before the application deadline. Applicants with a degree awarded earlier may also be preferred if specific reasons exist. Such specific reasons may be a leave due to illness, parental leave or other similar circumstances.

Assessments
We are seeking a motivated person with expertise in the field of plant ecology. In addition, excellent communication skills, written and spoken, in English are necessary since we work in an international environment.

We will consider the following selection criteria for the applicant:


• previous scientific production (scientific publications, conference presentations)
• specialist skills in statistical analysis/programming and data management
• prior relevant experience, such as:

• conducting experimental research related to local adaptation in plants (e.g. reciprocal transplant and/or common garden experiments)
• measuring and analyzing plant trait data, including cold tolerance and/or phenology
• working with large datasets from multiple sources, ideally global (or biome-wide) in scope
• working in alpine or Arctic tundra ecosystems


• Soft skills such as:

• Effective communication in English
• Prior experience working as part of a large (ideally international) collaborative network
• Ability and desire to work as part of a team, including mentorship of MSc and PhD students in the group



For more information and how to apply
In order to apply for a position at the University of Gothenburg, you have to register an account in our online recruitment system https://www.gu.se/english/about_the_university/job-opportunities/vacancies-details/?id=5685. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the job advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline. The selection of candidates is made on the basis of the qualifications registered in the application.


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.