Postdoc position in the Pig-Paradigm project

Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Aarhus University, invites highly qualified applicants for a postdoc position within the Pig-Paradigm project from 15/2-2024 or soon thereafter, focusing on identifying inflammation markers during pathogenic enteric acute and chronic inflammation in piglets.

The position is a fulltime, fixed-term position for 2 years. You can read more about Pig-Paradigm here: 

https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/researchers-mobilis e-to-combat-antimicrobial-resistance/

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The successful candidate will become an essential member of a multidisciplinary team of scientists from Aarhus University, University of Copenhagen, Aalborg University, Wageningen University, and University of California-Davis.

The overall research aim of the Pig-Paradigm project is to prevent infection in the gut of developing piglets, thereby reducing the use of antibiotics, and thus reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance – by disentangling the interface of diet, the host, and the gastrointestinal microbiome.

The postdoc candidate will work on Identification of inflammatory markers during pathogenic enteric acute and chronic inflammation. The work will be based onin vivo studies combining post weaning with ETEC challenge and challenging with substances (dextran sodium sulfate or LPS) known to induce gut inflammation or systemic inflammations, and inflammatory diets such as diets rich in soybean meal.

The inflammatory markers will be identified based on analyses of feces, blood, and saliva materials. The post doc project will run in parallel with a PhD project that primarily focuses on identifying changes in the composition of the microbiome under inflammation in piglets and human patients from a hospital.

Qualifications within several of the following key areas

• Academic qualifications at PhD level in biological- and/or veterinary sciences.
• Research experience in controlled intervention studies with piglets.
• Research experience in in vitro/ex vivo studies
• Knowledge in gut histology and microscopy techniques
• Knowledge on molecular techniques to characterize the microbiota and analyze biomarkers for gut epithelium health.
• Significant skills in data analyses of animal experimental and biological data
• Significant skills in scientific communication of research results

The project will contribute to mitigate the use of antibiotics in the weaning of piglets. The candidate will contribute to attracting external funding within this area of research and will participate in knowledge exchange with society and industry as well as in teaching and supervision at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels.

Place of work and area of employment

The place of work is the Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, AU Viborg, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, and the area of employment is Aarhus University (AU) with related departments. 

Contact information 

Further information on the position may be obtained from Head of research unit (

Gut and host health

), professor Knud Erik Bach Knudsen ph. +45 2064 7598, email: knuderik.bachknudsen@anivet.au.dk

Deadline

Applications must be received no later than October 23th, 2023.

Application procedure

Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the appointment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. All applicants will be notified whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each applicant is given the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that concerns him/her self. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.

Letter of reference

If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.

Formalities and salary range

Technical Sciences refers to the

Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation

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The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities .

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here . Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here .

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here .

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.