Post doctor (2 years) within carbon burial in Arctic lakes

The Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, is offering a postdoctoral scholarship within a project on carbon burial in Arctic lakes. The scholarship is full-time for two years with access 01 November, 2023 or by agreement.

Project description

The project focuses on understanding the magnitude and control of carbon burial in sediments. Lakes are abundant at high latitudes and receive and process carbon exported from land. The lateral carbon export from land is expected to change following alterations in factors such as temperature, precipitation, and permafrost thawing. If the exported carbon is stored, it will contribute to the net carbon sink of the landscape, while if mineralized and evaded, it will release previously fixed carbon to the atmosphere and reduce the net carbon sink of the Arctic landscape. Yet, few studies exist on mechanisms controlling carbon burial in Arctic lakes. The project aims to unravel key mechanisms controlling carbon mineralization and burial, assess patterns in carbon burial across climate-related drivers, and develop methods for scaling and predicting carbon burial in Arctic lakes. The Postdoctoral Fellow can explore all or parts of these aspects as well as other related questions.

The postdoctoral fellow will be part of a multidisciplinary team with complementary expertise in biogeochemistry, chemistry and modelling and take advantage of research environments at Umeå University, such as the Climate Impacts Research Centre (CIRC) , Chemical Biological Centre (KBC) and IceLab  for data collection, analysis, and modelling. The postdoc can use archived (around 60 lakes) and new samples and data from Arctic lakes along gradients in temperature and precipitation, and state-of-the-art chemical methods (e.g. stable isotopes, X-ray diffraction and fluorescence, thermogravimetric analysis, cryogenic electron microscopy, vibrational spectroscopy) and machine learning analysis.

This two-year postdoctoral scholarship is funded by the Kempe Foundation. The scholarship amounts to 336,000 SEK per year. The scholarship is not subject to tax. Running costs for the project are covered by PIs.

Qualifications

To qualify as a postdoctoral scholarship holder, the postdoctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirement must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the decision about scholarship recipient.

Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree prior to that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, as well as clinical practice or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area. Doctoral degree should be within biology, biogeochemistry, chemistry, earth science, or a related subject of relevance for the project.

We seek a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher with documented established expertise in carbon biogeochemistry in soil, water, or sediment. Good knowledge of oral and written English in a scientific context is also required. Meriting criteria are experience of work on carbon burial in lakes, skills in organic / inorganic carbon analysis, use of stable isotopes to study carbon cycling, and experience of using empirical or process-based models.

Application
A full application should include:

• Cover letter that describes your qualifications, research interests, and motivation for the application (max 2 pages),
• Curriculum vitae (CV) with publication list,
• Verified copy of doctoral degree certificate or documentation that clarifies when the degree of doctor is expected to be obtained,
• Copy of doctoral thesis and max 5 relevant articles,
• Other documents that the applicant wishes to claim,
• Contact information to two persons willing to act as references.

The application should be written in English (preferably) or Swedish. Your complete application, marked with reference number FS 2.1.6-1143-23 should be sent electronically (in PDF format) to [email protected]  (with the reference number on the subject line). The closing date is August 7th, 2023.

Further details are provided by Professor Jan Karlsson ([email protected] ).

More about the employer

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest institutions of higher education, with over 37,000 students and 4,800 faculty and staff. We are proud to have world-leading research in several scientific fields, and a multitude of educations ranked highly in international comparison. Umeå University is also the site of the pioneering discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic scissors - a revolution in genetic engineering that has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

At Umeå University, everything is nearby. Our cohesive campus environment makes it easy to meet, collaborate and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture where we rejoice in each other's successes. Read more about Umeå University at: Work with us .

Umeå University also offers a strong postdoc community with the Umeå Postdoc Society (UPS) which fosters networking amongst postdocs, organises social and career development events and works towards improving the postdoc experience at Umea campus. Check out their website: https://umeapostdocsociety.se/ and do not hesitate to get in contact with them early on!

 We welcome your application!