Marine ecosystems are increasingly affected by climate change and other environmental threats. At the same time, the ocean-based economy is expected to double in the next 20 years. How can we best manage these blue ecosystem services, given the IPCC projections of changing ocean currents?

In the new AtlantECO project, involving 36 partners from across Europe, Brazil and South Africa, we will investigate how the microbial ecosystem in the Atlantic Ocean will be affected by climate change and the presence of pollutants such as plastics. The ambition of AtlantECO is to develop and apply a novel, unifying framework for providing knowledge-based resources to design policies, support decision making and engage with citizens to encourage responsible behaviour to manage the Atlantic system and protect its Ecosystem Services provision.

The Utrecht University team co-leads the Work Package that maps the multi-scale connectivity of nutrients, microbes and plastics, and their interactions, with the goal to create models to advance predictability. We are seeking a PhD or Postdoc Researcher to support this work.

During the project, you will be involved in:

• developing numerical simulations of nutrients, microbes and plastic based on the OceanParcels framework;
• assembling nano-, micro- and macroplastics data from state-of-the-art sampling methods;
• analyzing connectivity of microbes and their exposure to microplastics;
• collaborating within a large, interdisciplinary project spanning European, Brazilian and South African partners.

By the end of the project, you will have:

• a deep understanding of the interaction between microbial ecosystems and plastics, in present day and under climate change;
• advanced skills in numerical modelling and data analysis in python;
• the skills to communicate your scientific results to a wide audience including peers, media and the general public.

Our ideal candidate has a driven and collaborative spirit and:

• an MSc or PhD in Physics, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics or a similar field;
• strong skills in python programming;
• the ability to cooperate within a wider and interdisciplinary research team;
• an excellent level of written and spoken English.

• a position for 3 years (Postdoc level) or 4 years (PhD level);
• a full-time gross salary starting for PhD students at €2,325 and increasing to €2,972 per month during the appointment (scale P). For Postdocs the full-time gross starting salary ranges between €2,709 and €4,274 per month (scale 10);
• benefits including 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (cao).

In addition to the employment conditions laid down in the cao for Dutch Universities, Utrecht University has a number of its own arrangements. For example, there are agreements on professional development, leave arrangements and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment yourself via the Employment Conditions Selection Model. This is how we like to encourage you to continue to grow.

More information about working at the Faculty of Science can be found here.

You will work at the Institute of Marine and Atmospheric research at the Department of Physics of Utrecht University, and then specifically within the Lagrangian Ocean Analysis group. This group, led by Dr Erik van Sebille, works on creating simulations of the transport of material (plastics, plankton, fish) by ocean currents and its impact on climate and marine ecosystems. Within the group, we adhere to Open Science principles and aim to create a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere.

At the Faculty of Science there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes which work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects.

Utrecht University is a friendly and ambitious university at the heart of an ancient city. We love to welcome new scientists to our city – a thriving cultural hub that is consistently rated as one of the world’s happiest cities. We are renowned for our innovative interdisciplinary research and our emphasis on inspirational research and excellent education. We are equally well-known for our familiar atmosphere and the can-do attitude of our people. This fundamental connection attracts Researchers, Professors and PhD candidates from all over the globe, making both the University and the Faculty of Science a vibrant international and wonderfully diverse community.