Applications are invited for fixed term contracts for two Early Stage Researchers in aquatic ecology on the Marie Skłodowska ­Curie Action European Joint Doctorate ITN MANTEL (Management of Climatic Extreme Events in Lakes & Reservoirs for the Protection of Ecosystem Services: www.mantel-itn.org). The recruited researcher in Position 1 will be based at Dundalk Institute of Technology (Ireland) will be given a contract of employment for 18 months.  Position 2 is based at NIOO-KNAW in the Netherlands and will offer a contract of employment for 33 months.  Recruitment is based on a transparent and merit-based recruitment process in accordance with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for Recruitment of Researchers. Note that strict eligibility criteria apply for these positions.

 

GENERAL ELIGIBILITY – APPLICATIONS WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED FOLLOWING AN ELIGIBILITY CHECK

• Researchers are required to undertake trans­national mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up the appointment. Applicants cannot apply for a position hosted in a country where they have resided, worked or studied for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the start of recruitment.

• Applicants must be in the first four years (full­time equivalent) of their research careers and not yet have been awarded a doctorate. This 4 year period is measured from the date of obtaining the degree which would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate.

• The successful candidate must meet host institute requirements for entry to a doctoral programme.

• Any applicant whose first language is other than English must have certified English language proficiency of at least IELTS 6.5 or equivalent or as specified on the relevant project webpage description.

 

Position 1

Episodic climatic events range from relatively short mixing events to storms and heat waves. Understanding the impact of these events on the biota of lakes requires monitoring that captures the event (hours–days) as well as the ensuing impact that can last for months or even years. The researcher appointed to Position 1 project will undertake an investigation of the effects of storms on bacterioplankton community composition and abundance in a humic lake in the west of Ireland.  It is supervised by Dr Eleanor Jennings in collaboration with Prof. Hans Peter Grossart, of FV-Berlin.  The successful candidate will be given a contract of employment for 18 months. They will undertake at least one secondment at FV-Berlin during the contract.  The researcher will also have the opportunity to register for an MSc by research in the Dublin City University-Dundalk Institute of Technology Graduate School.

 

We are seeking a highly motivated Early Stage Researcher (see general eligibility above), with at least a 2.1 grade or equivalent in their primary degree in aquatic biology, microbiology, genetics or a similar discipline. Experience in sampling chemical-microbiology variables in freshwater systems is essential.  The candidate should have strong skills in data handing and statistics. Experience in the analysis of bacterioplankton populations, including bioinformatics and statistical analysis of genomic datasets, would be an advantage.

Note a full EU driving license is also essential for this position.

 

Informal inquiries for Position 1 only may be made to Dr Alec Rolston, MANTEL Project Manager: alec.rolston@dkit.ie.

 

Position 2

This project will support stakeholders through development of measures that mitigate the negative consequences of extreme events, including toxic cyanobacterial blooms, and runoff induced high nutrient loads. Lowering the trophic status of surface waters is expected to increase resilience against predicted global warming and therewith to reduce problematic cyanobacterial blooms. Cost-efficient mitigation calls for a tailor made benefit oriented restoration plan, building on an arsenal of restoration techniques, combined with innovative techniques. The overall objective of the project is to test the hypothesis that such rehabilitated waters are not only more resilient to increased water temperatures, but also to pulsed inflows of nutrients. The junior research will work on experimental data from earlier experiments testing the effectivity of different mitigation techniques under extreme climatic events scenarios. To gain a better understanding of cost-efficient mitigation, the ESR will carry out timeseries analyses on HFM data of the catchment area Mark-Vliet-Dintel, and Volkerakzoommeer-Binnenschelde, two areas where rehabilitation projects are ongoing. To detect the negative impacts of episodic events on these degraded systems, a modelling framework will be developed. The results will give a much needed management perspective of both the Dutch water board Brabantse Delta as well as the drinking water company ATLL.

 

We are looking for a highly motivated early stage researcher with a M.Sc. degree in aquatic ecology or a related field. The candidate should have strong skills in handling large datasets, timeseries analyses (Matlab, R) and deterministic modelling. The junior researcher will be primarily based in the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Netherlands, supervised by Dr Lisette de Senerpont Domis, and will be co-supervised by and spend study time with Dr Miquel Lurling, Wageningen University and Dr. Rafa Marcé, Catalan Institute for Water Research, Spain. Contact L.N. de Senerpont Domis for more information (l.desenerpontdomis@nioo.knaw.nl).  This position will offer a contract of employment for 33 months. There is a possibility to obtain a PhD when the candidate meets the objectives of WUR university (https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/PhD-Programme.htm) at the end of the contract period.

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Application process

Applications will only be accepted using the official application form, which can be obtained as a Word document by emailing mantel@dkit.ie. The form, together with an official copy of degree(s) (if applicable, an official English translation), course transcripts (if applicable, an official English translation), and any English proficiency test result required, must be sent as pdfs in a single email to mantel@dkit.ie. The closing date is 5pm Friday 26 April 2019.