Three-year positions for a PhD student and a post doc will be open in the project focusing on freshwater communities along elevational gradients. Positions are funded by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation. Positions will be targeted to planktonic and benthic communities in lakes and streams and will be located in Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Finland. The department (110 employees with a budget of 9 million € per year) is the leading unit in research and teaching in its field in Finland.

The ongoing global change poses unprecedented challenges to living organisms on Earth. Ecosystems at high latitudes and altitudes are expected to be among the most vulnerable systems to global change, and thorough knowledge on their biodiversity and functioning is thus urgently needed. The gradients in biotic communities along elevation may give deep insights into how communities change under a changing climate. Elevational gradients offer a highly useful natural “laboratory” for examining the potential effects of future warming. Although the literature on global change and elevational diversity is relatively extensive and rich, smaller organisms (e.g. bacteria and algae) important in many ecosystem processes have been left understudied. Patterns and processes have also been examined largely separately for the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Our aim is to examine how aquatic biota (e.g. species richness, composition, C:N:P stoichiometry, phylogenetic diversity) responds to drivers operating at multiple scales ranging from local scale variables such as water chemistry to land use and large scale climatic variables.

The positions will be available for three years, starting from the beginning of the 2015 to the end of 2017. Both researchers will receive a personal tax free grant (25 000 € per year for a PhD student and 28 000 € per year for a post doc). A successful applicant is expected to have a Master`s or PhD degree in ecology, limnology, hydrobiology or geography (or any other relevant field of science). An ideal candidate shows high motivation, enthusiasm for science and ability to work independently and as a member of a research group. Prior experience in field and laboratory work and skills in statistical analyses will be important assets for the positions. The posts will include field work in Finland, Norway, Italy and possibly in China, sample counting and other laboratory work, data analyses and manuscript writing.

The application documents should include:

1. Motivation letter explaining why he/she is interested in position and why he/she is an excellent candidate for the position
2. CV including education and prior research experience
3. One-page summary of the MSc or PhD thesis and list of relevant publications (if any)
4. Name and contact information for two academic referees

The printed application documents should be sent no later than 15.11.2014 to mail address below.

Assistant Professor Janne Soininen
Department of Geosciences and Geography
PO Box 64
00014 University of Helsinki, Finland

http://blogs.helsinki.fi/jhsoinin/

More info on the research group here.