Research Assistant/Project Researcher

We are building the future with science! The University of Oulu is one of the biggest universities in Finland with various fields of science. We participate solving global challenges by combining interdisciplinary approaches, high-level research and successful collaboration. Many of our research units represent international top-level research in their fields.

Our team (https://eskelinenresearch.com/) is looking for a motivated, enthusiastic and independent

Research Assistant/Project Researcher

to work with a Plant Metacommunity and Pollinator Network Project. You will mainly conduct field work in a beautiful meadow metacommunity system in the archipelago of southern Finland, Åland Islands. In our project, we examine links between plant community diversity, plant functional traits and pollinator networks in a naturally heterogeneous plant metacommunity system. We will combine plant functional traits related to spatial and temporal dispersal, competition and herbivory with information about habitat size and connectivity, and integrate these with pollinator species diversity, and the structure of plant-pollinator interactions. The project is in collaboration with Prof. Tiffany Knight, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research iDiv, Germany.

You can be a master’s level student or already advanced in your career, we will shape the position based on the selected person’s background. You will work in an international researcher team. The work language will be English, but we are preferably looking for a person who can also speak some Swedish.

Contents of tasks (can vary depending on the level of employment):

• Conducting independently or helping with plant functional trait collection (e.g. seed and floral traits, specific leaf area, foliar C:N, photosynthetic capacity)
• Conducting independently or helping with plant community and soil sampling (cover, biomass, soil samples), and pollinator surveys
• Processing plant, soil, and insect samples in a lab (possibly partly in Oulu)
• Helping researchers in various tasks in the field and lab

Requirements:

• For project researcher: Recent Master’s degree in Ecology
• For research assistant: Ecology student or Bachelor’s degree in Ecology
• Capability for independent and detail-orientated work in both field and laboratory in various conditions, including remote and sometimes challenging weather conditions
• Good knowledge of plant species (especially species in Southern Finland/Central Europe)
• Field work experience
• Ability to work in a team, good social skills in general
• Interest in plant community ecology, plant functional traits, diversity and/or pollinators
• Good English skills, Swedish skills will be an asset
• Pollinator identification skills will be an asset

Salary and terms of the employment:

The position is fixed term for 2 months, starting from 15.6. or as agreed. The trial period of 1 month will be included. Employment comes via University of Oulu. Salary depends on education and experience, which affect the responsibilities and tasks.

Salary is in accordance with the Finnish universities’ salary system: for research assistant according to teaching and research personnel level 1 and for project researcher according to other staff level 6-9. In addition, a salary component based on personal work performance will be paid (maximum of 50% of the job-specific component). Typical starting salary for a research assistant is approx. 2100-2400€ per month (before taxes) for a project researcher is approx. 2400-2900€ per month (before taxes).

How to apply:

Applications, together with all relevant enclosures, should be submitted using the electronic application form by 18th of May 2022 at 23:59 (Finnish local time). The application should be written in English and include the following:

1)    Curriculum vitae

2)    A letter of motivation

3)    Two references

For further information, please contact Dr. Anu Eskelinen (anu.eskelinen@idiv.de).