The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) currently has a job opening for a research technician for our physical-chemical laboratories, who will also be responsible for management of the lab. We are looking for a skilled and experienced research technician with expertise in physical-chemistry and strong affinity to the biogeochemistry of soil and aquatic (both freshwater and marine) ecosystems.

You will provide technical support in physical chemistry to the scientific projects and education programs of IBED. You will be co-responsible for the management of all our IBED laboratories, but your first responsibility will be with our physical-chemical and macro-biological laboratories. In this lab, research activities focus on the biogeochemistry and ecology of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

• Lab coordination of physical-chemical and macro-biological laboratories of IBED and supervision of a team of technicians working in these labs;
• instruction and support to BSc- and MSc-students, PhD-candidates and scientific staff with the set-up and implementation of experiments conducted in the physical-chemical and macro-biological laboratories with an emphasis on soil science;
• development of new analytical procedures;
• set-up and support of practical courses (including fieldwork);
• end-responsibility for proper and safe use of laboratories and, together with your colleagues, responsible for the management and maintenance of all IBED facilities.

The candidate must have:

• MSc in biological, geological, or chemical sciences and at least 5 years of working experience. A PhD degree is not a prerequisite, but is considered as an advantage;
• experience with managing scientific laboratories and in supporting  BSc- and MSc-students and PhD-candidates to apply physical-chemical techniques;
• strong technical skills in isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), elemental analysis and/or LC-MS;
• ability to work on multidisciplinary topics in a multidisciplinary research team;
• ability to speak and communicate in English at an academic level;
• non-Dutch candidates are required to learn the Dutch language within 2 years.

We offer a position for 32-38 hours a week in an exciting, dynamic and international research environment, starting as soon as possible. Initial appointment will be for a period of 12 months. After a positive assessment of the employee it will be converted into a permanent employment contract. This position is classified in the function profile Education/Research Officer at level 1. The full-time gross monthly salary varies between €2.588 and €4.084 gross per month, depending on relevant experience (salary scale 10). The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable. The annual salary will be increased by 8 % holiday allowance and 8.3 % end-of-year bonus.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) is one of eight research institutes within the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam. Our scientific studies aim at a better understanding of the dynamics of ecosystems at all relevant levels, from genes to climate change, using a truly multi-disciplinary approach, and based on both experimental and theoretical research. Scientific focus is on aquatic (both freshwater and marine) and terrestrial ecosystems, population and evolution biology, paleo-ecology, theoretical and computational ecology.

http://ibed.uva.nl/