Open PhD Position in Alpine Plant Ecology
The Physiological Plant Ecology (PPE) group at the University of Basel, Switzerland is looking for a PhD Student in Alpine Plant Ecology (supervision by Erika Hiltbrunner, start in February 2019).
The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and aims at investigating plant and ecosystem responses in alpine grassland under altered snow melt date and simulated summer drought. The project will be conducted at a unique research site in the Swiss central Alps with seasonal stays at the Alpine Research and Education Station Furka www.alpfor.ch. The project will strongly capitalize on an on-going manipulative experiment, set-up in 2016.
By simultaneously investigating above- and below growth responses in an alpine grassland, this project will reveal how alpine plants cope with environmental changes and stresses like drought. Since close to 80% of alpine biomass is below ground, the project will particularly focus on below-ground responses by using root scanning techniques and tracking the fate of 13C and 15N enriched litter, in addition to other ecophysiological methods.
Your Tasks
The PhD candidate will be responsible for the manipulative experiment and study and analyse root phenology, seasonal annual fine root turnover and nutrient dynamics in the soil. These below-ground signals will be linked to the concurrent above-ground responses to the shifted onset of the growing season and summer drought.
Your Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated, reliable student with a Master in Biology, Plant Ecology, Environmental Sciences or a related discipline. Established writing skills in English and solid knowledge in statistics (R software) are essential. Experience in handling big data sets (root scans) is of advantage. The candidate should be able and willing to work under sometimes harsh alpine field conditions.
We offer you
The research will be carried out within a 4-year project, starting February 2019. We offer an interesting position in an interdisciplinary research environment at the University of Basel and field work conditions within a smaller team in an exclusive alpine setting. Salary and social benefits are provided according to University of Basel rules.
Contact
Please send your complete application (CV, letter of motivation, contact information of three references) to Mrs. Maura Ellenberger (maura.ellenberger@clutterunibas.ch). Contact Erika Hiltbrunner (erika.hiltbrunner@unibas.ch) for further information (no applications). Application deadline is November 25th 2018. Candidate’s interviews will be carried out in December 2018.