Senior Scientist & Lab leader Arctic Palaeogenetics

Arctic biodiversity is threatened by climate change, which leads to irreversible effects on the diversity of terrestrial and aquatic organisms. This imposes the importance to investigate the response of polar biodiversity to climate and land cover change over the last glacial to present day warming. Ancient sedimentary DNA is an innovative tool, independent from visible organismic remains, to retrieve information on biodiversity change in space and throughout time, imposing to trace back biodiversity from specific target groups to overall changes in Arctic ecosystems.

We are looking to employ a lab leader and senior scientist who will lead the paleogenetic laboratories at
and investigates spatial and temporal environmental changes in terrestrial Arctic ecosystems by applying ancient environmental DNA approaches. The research focus is mainly on ancient sedimentary DNA of lakes, which is used to investigate the biodiversity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and its relation to environmental variability over millennial timescales. The applied molecular methods include metabarcoding and metagenomic approaches for the reconstruction of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, which enables to investigate evolutionary-adaptive patterns along with strong environmental change in the terrestrial Arctic.

Tasks

• Leading molecular genetic labs specified to process ancient DNA
• Establishing molecular lab methods adjusted to ancient DNA analyses
• Investigating biodiversity changes using Arctic sediments across millennial timescales
• Applying bioinformatic toolboxes for DNA sequence analyses of metabarcoding and metagenomic data
• Supervising Bachelor, Masters and PhD theses in the field of ancient sedimentary DNA
• Organizing conference session and contribute presentations to international conferences
• Attracting third party funding for research projects in the field of ancient sedimentary DNA

Requirements

• PhD in biology or a related discipline (biochemistry etc.)
• Large practical experience with molecular genetic techniques applied in ancient DNA research is required (including metabarcoding, shotgun sequencing and capture approaches)
• Experience in setting-up, organizing and establishing methods in a paleogenetic laboratory are mandatory
• Experience in the application and optimization of bioinformatic pipelines for DNA data analyses are mandatory
• Very good organizational and analytical skills
• Competences in the supervision of technical employees and students are preferable
• Publications in scientific journals, participations in international conferences, review of scientific articles and attracted or willingness to attract third party funding for own research projects
• Very good communication skills and fluency in written and spoken English are necessary

Additional skills and knowledge

• We expect you to be experienced in organizing and conducting fieldwork and willing to participate in expeditions to the Arctic
• Research focus on past aquatic and terrestrial arctic environments is beneficial.

Further Information

For further information please contact
Prof. Dr. Urike Herzschuh
(Ulrike.Herzschuh@awi.de, +49(331)288-2165).
This is a full-time position, limited to 3 years with the potential to become a permanent employment. It is also suitable for part-time employment. The salary will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federation (Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes, TVöD Bund), up to salary level

14
The place of employment will be
Potsdam.

This characterizes us

• our scientific success - excellent research.
• collaboration and cooperation - intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary.
• opportunities to develop – on the job, aiming at other positions and beyond AWI.
• a culture of reconciling work and family – audited, and even more than that.
• our outstanding research infrastructure – ships, stations, aircraft, laboratories and more.
• an international environment – everyday contacts with people from all over the world.
• having an influence – fundamental research with social and political relevance
• flat hierarchies – freedom and responsibility.
• exciting topics – also in technology, administration and infrastructure.

Equal opportunities are an integral part of our personnel policy and we encourage women to apply.
Disabled applicants will be given preference when equal qualifications are present. The AWI fosters the compatibility of work and family through various means. Because of our engagement in the area of work-life compatibility we have been awarded the certificate “Career and Family”.

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