The University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic – UCC) is a young and very dynamic university in Central Catalonia, with a special commitment to quality education, innovative research and internationalization. The Aquatic Ecology Group of UVic-UCC is formed by a young team of researchers and has recently been granted a Horizon 2020 grant of €6.9 million to lead the project PONDERFUL: Pond ecosystems for resilient future landscapes in a changing climate. The consortium is composed by 18 partners from nine European states and from Turkey and Uruguay.

PONDERFUL aims are to increase understanding of the ways in which ponds, as a nature- based solution, can help society to mitigate and adapt to climate change, protect biodiversity and deliver ecosystem services. PONDERFUL project starts in December 2020 and lasts for 4 years.

We are looking to hire a proactive and dynamic postdoc for 2 years with the possibility to extend the contract up to 4 years. The starting date is December 2020. In case of travel restrictions during the pandemic period, the successful candidate will be able to work remotely in his/her country for a limited time.

Topic:

The successful candidate will be part of our team studying the interactions and feedbacks between biodiversity, ecosystems services and climate in ponds at multiple spatial scales.
This position will focus on quantifying the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions of ponds and assessing how the climate gradient affects the strength and nature of these relationships. It will also study how pond hydroperiod shapes the interactions among biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services. The successful candidate will closely work with another postdoc that will focus on the management of ponds as Nature Based Solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The candidate will deal with, among others, the following tasks:

- Sampling ponds in Catalonia (NE Spain)
- Counting and identifying invertebrates and/or macrophytes
- Quantifying greenhouse gases emissions and sequestration
- Quantifying specific ecosystem functions
- Contributing to the development of a database of ponds, as a nature-based solution, for climate change adaptation and mitigation, which will be led by another postdoc
- Publishing results in peer-reviewed journals
- Presenting results at scientific meetings.

Requirements:

• University degree and a PhD on a topic with links to aquatic ecology.
• Excellent research performance, as evidenced by publications.
• Expertise in one or several of the following areas: freshwater ecology, biodiversity, community ecology, ponds, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, climate change mitigation & adaptation, nature-based solutions, ecosystem metabolism and greenhouse gases emissions.
• Strong statistical skills
• Practical skills to conduct field work in aquatic systems
• Excellent communication skills in English in a professional context
• Car driving license
• Strong motivation to work in a collaborative environment
• Experience of zooplankton, macroinvertebrates and/or macrophyte identification will beacknowledged
• Experience of ecosystem metabolism and quantification of greenhouse gases emissions will be acknowledged

Please send your CV before October 15th, 2020 to Prof. Dr. Sandra Brucet (sandra.brucet@uvic.cat)

Review of applications will begin on October 15th, 2020, but consideration of candidates will continue until the position is filled.

For further information please contact Dr. Sandra Brucet or Dr Mireia Bartrons (mireia.bartrons@uvic.cat)

Sandra Brucet

ICREA & University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia

Aquatic Ecology Group, GEA c/ de la Laura, 13
08500 Vic, Barcelona

http://mon.uvic.cat/aquatic-ecology/

https://www.icrea.cat/Web/ScientificStaff/sandra-brucet-210578