The Department of Earth Sciences has 65 employees. We have Bachelor and Master's programmes in Earth Sciences and in Geography as well as third-cycle education. Our strongest research areas lie within climatology, ecosystem sciences, petrology/geochemistry and applied geoscience. The research strategy for the department emphasizes on further development of Earth System Science.
A third cycle education at our department will lead to the degree of doctor of philosophy in Natural Sciences alternative Natural Sciences specializing in Environmental Science or Physical Geography. This Doctoral Student is funded by external funds and by the department.
In recent years, an expansion of shrubs has been observed in many tundra ecosystems, which has been linked to increasing temperatures. This so-called shrubification constitutes one of the most striking climate-driven changes in tundra vegetation and has mainly been attributed to an increase in deciduous species, such as birch and willow.
Far less attention has been given to the fact that a number of studies have also found a strong increase in prostrate evergreen shrubs in response to warming, and these dwarf shrubs are commonly not included in the term shrubification. The ecological consequences of a shrub expansion of evergreen dwarf shrubs, however, are markedly different compared to taller, deciduous species. Thus, current very simplified view misses several important aspects connected to the ecological dissimilarities of different functional types of shrubs. This Doctoral Student project will address how deciduous shrubs (being ectomycorrhizal) have contrasting implication for carbon dynamics than evergreen shrubs (being ericoid mycorrhizal). By using long-term herbivore exclusion experiments at multiple sites across the Arctic this doctoral student will study how the production and turnover of mycorrhizal fungi together with the fungal community composition are affected by herbivore to increase our understanding of ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Arctic.
The Doctoral Student will work in the research group of Arctic and Polar Ecology (APE from GU) within the research environment Ecosystem Sciences at the Department of Earth Sciences. This research group constitutes today of one Associate Professor, one Researcher, and twoDoctoral Students. Our research topics includes: herbivory-plant-soil interactions, plant and soil microbial community dynamics, permafrost thaw, ecosystem C and N dynamics, and soil-snow-atmosphere interactions. The research group is involved in several larger research projects and networks, such as BECC (Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate) and ITEX (International Tundra Experiment), and is scientific coordinator of the research station Latnjajaure in the Swedish Oroarctic tundra.
As aDoctoral Student you will be part of an international research team, which gives you the opportunity for many intellectual interactions. You will be expected to develop your own ideas and communicate scientific results orally and in writing.
The Doctoral Student will use ongoing long-term herbivore exclusion experiments where large herbivores have been excluded for nearly 20 years together with mycorrhizal ingrowth bags and soil samples to determine the production and turnover of fungal biomass in relation to herbivory. In addition, the task will include laboratory work where different molecular methods are used to determine how herbivory affects soil fungal community dynamics in the Arctic, and to distinguish the effect of ericoid and ectomycorrhizal shrubs for the ecosystem carbon dynamics. Part of the laboratory work may be located in Uppsala. You are expected to conduct interdisciplinary research that combines systematics, bioinformatics, biogeochemistry and ecology, which also entails long-term field work in the Swedish mountains, but can also bring research trips to other parts of the Arctic region.
Studied Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences or Biology. Good oral and written proficiency in English is required.
Selection among applicants who meet the requirements for basic and special eligibility is based on the applicant’s ability to benefit from research studies.
Type of employment: Temporary employment, HF 5 kap 7 Doktorandanstllning
Extent: 100 %
Location: Department of Earth Sciences, Gothenburg
First day of employment: As agreed, but no later than 2019-04-23
Regulations for employment of doctoral students are given in SFS 1998:80. Only those who are admitted to third-cycle studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. Those appointed to doctoral studentships shall primarily devote themselves to their studies. They may, however, work to a limited extent with educational tasks, research and administration according to the regulations.
The initial appointment may apply for no longer than one year. An appointment may be renewed for no more than two years at a time. The total employment period may not exceed the time corresponding to full-time third-cycle studies for four years.
Salaries for doctoral students are regulated in a local agreement at the University.
For further information regarding the position
For instructions on how to apply, please refer to: http://bit.ly/2WrPR1D
