Climate Change and Marine Biodiversity in Greenland

Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Ecoscience programme. The position is available from 01 September 2025 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Climate Change and Marine Biodiversity in Greenland

Research area and project description

We are excited to offer a unique PhD opportunity focused on advancing our understanding of how climate change is impacting biodiversity in the coastal waters around Greenland. The primary objectives of this project are to:

1. Document the impacts that climate change has had on coastal marine biodiversity.
2. Advance knowledge and establish datasets to improve predictions of future biodiversity responses to climate change.

This PhD project includes two main components:

1. Assessing long-term changes in benthic biodiversity and abundance by comparing contemporary benthic communities with historical baselines.
2. Investigating the effects of warming and freshwater run-off from melting glaciers on the composition of benthic communities in fjords with marine- and land-terminating glaciers along the West Greenland coast.

In addition to these core components, there is flexibility within the project for the PhD candidate to contribute their own ideas and develop complementary research questions aligned with the overall aims of the project.

The candidate will work as part of a larger, interdisciplinary research team investigating biodiversity, carbon cycling, and ecosystem dynamics. The position involves extensive fieldwork in Greenland and offers a wide range of laboratory opportunities. You will be expected to use a variety of methods, including:

• Image analysis
• Species identification and classification using morphological characteristics and genetic sequencing (eDNA)
• Field surveys
• Multivariate statistical analyses

Finally, the successful candidate is expected to contribute actively to interdisciplinary discussions and public outreach within the project.

Project description

Please upload a project description outlining your own ideas for potential research that could supplement the two main components of this position. There is no need to describe the core components themselves.

Qualifications and specific competences

Applicants to the PhD position must at a minimum hold a relevant bachelor’s degree in biology or a related field. The duration of the PhD position will depend on the educational background of the selected candidate.

Since the project involves fieldwork in Greenland, proficiency in Danish or Greenlandic is considered an advantage.

In addition, it is beneficial if the candidate has any of the following qualifications:

• A driver’s license
• SCUBA diving certification
• Experience with public outreach
• Knowledge of Arctic ecosystems

Place of employment and place of work

The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is C.F. Møllers Allé, building 1131, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark.

Contacts

Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Jakob Thyrring, thyrring@ecos.au.dk (main supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 18 June 2025 at 23:59 CEST.

Preferred starting date is 01 September 2025.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.

Please note in your application that you found the job at Jobindex