The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) recently awarded a grant to a new project called Land, Sea, and Society: Linking terrestrial pollutants and inputs to nearshore coral reef growth to identify novel conservation options for the Dutch Caribbean (SEALINK): The Program intends to provide a comprehensive understanding of ocean pollution and coral reef health in the Dutch Caribbean. A total of 9 PhD positions in varying scientific disciplines are available through this project including this PhD position in reef ecology: understanding reef trophodynamics across space.

In this project you will produce estimates of the net influxes and effluxes (day and night) of organic and inorganic CNP through major pelagic and benthic functional groups (e.g., calcifying and non-calcifying phototrophs, motile and non-motile suspension/deposit-feeders) using incubation experiments. These will then serve to construct net CNP budgets for Caribbean reef communities growing under various environmental conditions. Based on findings of other project partners on the substances that enter Caribbean waters from land, you will link the abundance and performance of major benthic groups to the presence and performance of such substances (using e.g., stable isotope signatures and nutrient stoichiometry).

What are you going to do?

• Participate in and organize fieldwork in the Caribbean;
• analyze data, write scientific manuscripts for peer-reviewed scientific journal;
• present research at conferences and meetings and write a PhD thesis;
• take part in teaching efforts, including on site supervision of bachelor and master students from Dutch and Caribbean Universities;
• collaborate with and assist other scientists and students that participate in the SEALINK project.

What do we require?

• A MSc. degree in (marine or community) Ecology, Biological Oceanography or Marine Biology;
• knowledge of ecology and systems biology;
• excellent organizational skills;
• fluency in oral and written English;
• bioinformatics and computational skills;
• experience conducting elaborate field experiments and handling boats;
• willingness to spend consecutive months abroad;
• extensive diving experience.

Experience in Caribbean fieldwork is a plus.

The ideal candidate possesses most, but not necessarily all, of the requirements listed above. However, a MSc degree in a relevant field is required.

Our offer

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). This should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be €2,395 to €3,061 (scale P) gross per month, based on a full-time contract of 38 hours a week. This is exclusive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look here.

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.

Faculty of Science – Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 7,000, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) is one of eight research institutes of the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam. The research at IBED aims to unravel how ecosystems function in all their complexity, and how they change due to natural processes and human activities. At its core lies an integrated systems approach to study biodiversity, ecosystems and the environment. IBED adopts this systems approach to ecosystems, addressing abiotic (soil and water quality) and biotic factors (ecology and evolution of plants, animals, and microorganisms), and the interplay between those. The IBED vision includes research encompassing experimental and theoretical approaches at a wide variety of temporal and spatial scales, i.e. from molecules and microorganisms to patterns and processes occurring at the global scale.