Ocean life contributes ~50% to global primary production and understanding implications of global change for the microbial primary producers at the base of the food web is critically important to predict consequences for global carbon cycling. While the photosynthetic microbes collectively referred to as phytoplankton, are traditionally regarded as purely photosynthetic, many of them can also feed on other microbes.

These so-called mixotrophs thus combine a ‘plant-like’ with an ‘animal-like’ nutrition, and the relative importance of these two processes to their growth may shift in response to environmental conditions and affect the net impact of mixotrophs on carbon cycling. In this project we will assess the responses of mixotrophs to future ocean conditions including warming and ocean acidification.

What are you going to do?

In this project you will design and perform shipboard incubation experiments on two scientific cruises in the North Atlantic Ocean to assess the response of mixotrophs to global warming and ocean acidification. For this purpose, you will establish novel stable isotope probing techniques to quantify the role of diverse mixotrophs in the marine carbon cycle. The fieldwork in the North Atlantic Ocean can be complemented with and calibrated against laboratory experiments with cultured mixotrophic protists. You will supervise BSc and/or MSc student internships that align with the postdoc project. If desired, there is a possibility to gain additional teaching experience.  

What do we require of you?

• A PhD in Biological Oceanography, Environmental Microbiology or a related field.
• Strong scientific expertise in Marine Microbiology.
• Experience with molecular and/ or stable isotope techniques.
• The ability and willingness to participate in scientific cruises.
• Bioinformatic and computational skills are a plus.
• Excellent writing and communication skills, and fluency in English.
• Ability to collaborate in an international team.

Fixed-term contract: two years.

A temporary contract for 38 hours a week, preferably starting on 1 May 2022 for the duration of 24 months.

Your salary, depending on your relevant experience on commencement of the employment contract, ranges between €2,836 to €4,474 gross per month on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours.

This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8.3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 6,000 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. 

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.