Doctoral Researcher in Soil Biodiversity Changes in Response to Global Changes

at  Helsingin Yliopisto

The Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Assistant Professor Helen Phillips invites applications for the position of

DOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN SOIL BIODIVERSITY CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO GLOBAL CHANGES

Our research focuses on understanding large-scale patterns in soil biodiversity, and how human impacts may be disrupting these patterns. We are recruiting a Doctoral researcher to work within Dr. Helen Phillips’ Research Council of Finland funded project “GC-Worms: Partitioning the impacts of global changes on earthworm communities” at the University of Helsinki. GC-Worms will run from September 2024 to August 2028.
We are looking for a Doctoral researcher to join our team and undertake some of the work we are doing as part of GC-Worms. The successful candidate will use and expand upon previously synthesized ecological datasets on community-scale diversity (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-021-00912-z) of earthworms across the globe. The research will be focused on understanding alpha and beta diversity changes of earthworm communities over space and time. The successful candidate will be given plenty of opportunities to expand their skills, including data handling and management, statistics, R programming and scientific writing (including for grant applications).

The successful candidate will have:

• A Master’s degree or equivalent second-cycle degree (or soon to be completed degree) in a relevant subject (e.g., ecology, biology, conservation, quantitative methods)
• A passion for understanding how human impacts are altering biodiversity across the globe
• Good command of spoken and written English
• Good interpersonal, organisational and time management skills

The successful candidate may also have:

• Statistical knowledge
• Some previous experience handling large datasets
• Experience using R (or other programming languages)
• Experience conducting a research project
• Confidence in communication of their research (either through presentations or publications)

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE POSITION

According to the Regulations of the University of Helsinki, an appointee to the position of doctoral researcher shall hold a second-cycle degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) and the right to complete a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki or shall be granted the right to complete a doctoral degree at the University of Helsinki during the trial period at the beginning of the employment relationship.
Other requirements shall include an approved research proposal, the ability and motivation, as demonstrated in previous degree studies and otherwise, to pursue postgraduate studies and a doctoral degree according to the study plan and research proposal.

Please refer the Job description for details