Research position (f/m/d) in the field of wild pollinator toxicology in the Horizon Europe project WildPosh

The Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology is seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic junior scientist to study wild pollinator (bees, butterflies, hoverflies) toxicology in the EU Horizon Europe project WildPosh (Pan-European assessment, monitoring, and Mitigation of chemical stressors on the health of wild pollinators).

WildPosh is a multi-actor, transdisciplinary project whose overarching mission and ambition are to significantly improve the evaluation of risk to wild pollinators of pesticide exposure, and enhance the sustainable health of pollinators and pollination services in Europe. The offered position is integrated into a work package (WP2) within WildPosh. This WP2 studies the effects of exposure to single pesticides and their mixtures on wild pollinators as novel models under laboratory and semi-field conditions. The candidate will design and conduct semi-field experiments to study the effects of pesticides on wild pollinators (wild bees, hoverflies and butterflies) for two field seasons.

The position offers you the opportunity to work on an international research project and be part of an international research group. The PhD candidate will have access to the support of the University’s Graduate Center. 

Your tasks:

• Independent planning and implementation of semi-field studies
• Data analysis
• Writing and publishing papers in international peer-reviewed journals
• Presenting results at national and international conferences
• Co-supervision of BSc and MSc students
• Conducting a systematic hypothesis-driven literature research and synthesis on a topic of your own interest within the scope of this PhD project

Applicants must hold an MSc in ecology, biology or related disciplines by the start of the position and have work experience with insects ideally bees, butterflies or hoverflies. As a candidate, you should have good knowledge of ecological statistics and experimental design, proficiency in R (or another programming language used for data analysis) and effective communication skills including excellent scientific writing skills. Fluency in written and spoken English and a high motivation to learn the basics of German are required.

Experience in fieldwork is beneficial, and both robustness and willingness to conduct fieldwork under varying weather conditions are required. Candidates should have a passion for pollinators and research, good organizational skills, attention to detail, high self-discipline, and a high capacity for teamwork. Successful candidates should be able to effectively lead and manage a team of students and research assistants. A Class B driving license is needed by the start of the field season.

Further valuable skills are knowledge in toxicology, morphological insect identification, techniques for handling and hatching insects or basic plant identification.

Applications should include a letter of motivation, their master thesis (or a similar proof of their scientific writing skills), a complete curriculum vitae including a list of publications, software skills and copies of their degrees and transcripts of record as well as the names and email addresses of two references. Applications shall be sent through the university-internal application system or by email to nina.kranke@nature.uni-freiburg.de. The documents should be submitted as a single PDF with the subject “WildPosh_PhD_[your surname].pdf”. Interviews will likely take place at the end of July.