Postdoctoral Researcher in Eco-Evolutionary Microbiome and Thermal Biology

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 46 000 students and 8 500 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard equality, equal opportunities and diversity as a strength and an asset.

Subject description

The position is part of the research project “From Guts to Growth:
Unravelling the Gut Microbiome’s Role in Onto genetic Trajectories toward Climate Stress Resilience” (HOTGUT). The project investigates how environmental stress, the gut microbiome, and host physiology interact across early development to shape growth, metabolism, thermoregulation, and resilience to climate-induced thermal stress. The research uses wild great tits (Parus major) breeding in nest box populations and combines controlled field experiments with laboratory based microbiology, physiological measurements, and bioinformatic analyses.

The successful candidate will take a leading operational role in planning, establishing, coordinating, and conducting the project’s research activities. These include experiments on early-life thermal and hormonal stress, microbiome function transmission. The position therefore requires a highly independent researcher who is motivated by combining fieldwork and manipulative studies with laboratory analyses and data analyses.

Work duties

• Plan, establish, coordinate, and conduct experimental studies in wild nest-box breeding passerines.
• Collect and process biological samples, including faecal, oral, cloacal, blood, and environmental samples, and contribute to laboratory workflows for microbiome and physiological analyses.
• Perform microbiome laboratory work, including DNA extraction, library preparation, quality control, and preparation for 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.
• Develop, maintain, and apply reproducible bioinformatic and statistical workflows.
• Contribute to data analyses, scientific publications, conference presentations, data and code management, open-science practices, and communication of results to scientific and wider audiences.

Qualification requirements

• A PhD in evolutionary ecology, ecological physiology, microbiology, bioinformatics, ornithology, or another field relevant to the position.
• Strong bioinformatic skills and experience with reproducible analysis of amplicon-sequencing data.
• Strong quantitative skills, including advanced statistical analysis in R and experience with mixed-effects and multivariate models.
• Very good oral and written proficiency in English.
• A valid driving licence to be able to perform fieldwork.

Assessment criteria and other qualifications

This is a career development position primarily focused on research. The position is intended as an initial step in a career, and the assessment of the applicants will primarily be based on their research qualifications and potential as researchers. Particular emphasis will be placed on research skills within the subject.

The following qualifications will be considered merits:

• Experience of working with wild birds, particularly hole-nesting passerines, including bird handling, ringing, nest monitoring, blood sampling, or other relevant field procedures.
• Experience with thermal-physiology methods such as respirometry and body temperature measurement.
• Experience with endocrine, oxidative-stress, metabolomic, or other molecular and physiological analyses relevant to the project.

For…