PhD: The resilience of biological feedbacks

The Wadden Sea is ‘the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mud flats in North western Europe. People living in the Wadden Sea area depend on the ecosystem services provided by a naturally dynamic and resilient ecosystem. At present, however, these characteristics are increasingly threatened by complex pressures of climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss and human activities. The collective of Wadden Sea stakeholders increasingly realize that the future of the Wadden Sea depends on whether ‘natural processes’ can continue to proceed ‘largely undisturbed’. To warrant this, it is crucial to safeguard the interactions between geomorphological and ecological processes, as they form the foundation of the system and underpin biodiversity.

In a collaborative project called SedWay, researchers and practitioners from the Netherlands and Germany will work together to create new syntheses and empirical observations on how the processes associated with three selection criteria (geomorphology, ecology and biodiversity) interact and how past, current, and future human interferences interrupt these interactions. The project consists of five work packages (WP’s): 1) Meta-analysis of sediment dynamics effects on biodiversity; 2) Empirical evidence for biophysical feedbacks and habitat suitability; 3) Socio-ecology of an un-/disturbed sedimentary system; 4) Spatial Quality of Wadden Sea sediment strategies; and 5) Co-designed online decision/support system. The position offered here is part of WP2 and will focus on understanding how reef-forming mussels and oysters interact with sediment dynamics to facilitate their own growth and survival, and help shape the Wadden Sea ecosystem of channels and intertidal flats.

WP2 is an empirical, field-based, and experimental work package that will collect data in the Wadden Sea in the Netherlands and Germany but will also include a component to compare with similar soft-sediment systems in Australia. We will conduct targeted field surveys, manipulative field and mesocosm experiments with the aim of understanding how patch size and density of mussel and oyster aggregations affect their own stability, and evaluate if their influence on sediment dynamics at the scale of the Wadden Sea can be scaled to an even larger context by including field sites in Australia.

Year 1 and 2 will be spent in Groningen collecting data in the Wadden Sea in collaboration with the German and Australian partners. Year 3 will be spent in Sydney, testing the generality of findings by expanding the field campaign to a similar system in Australia. Year 4 will be spent in Groningen where you will finalize your thesis. Successfully defending your thesis will result in a Double Degree, in collaboration with Prof. Melanie Bishop at the Macquarie University, Sydney. The project will partner with a PhD based in Australia at Macquarie, who will spend a matching year in the Netherlands, contributing to the SedWay project by co-designing surveys and experiments, and participating in data collection. This collaboration comes with a specific set of requirements: the joint nature of the PhD programme will be detailed in a formal Co-tutelle (i.e. joint PhD) contract, whereby successful completion of the PhD thesis is mandatory within four years.

Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 35,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

The PhD is expected to contribute to the organization of the project in terms of fieldwork, participation in consortium meetings, and to the analysis and writing of the shared output. The candidate is expected to spend one year in Sydney, Australia, to cooperate and develop the research with the connected research group. The candidate will be based in the group of Prof. Eriksson, for a period of 48 months (1.0 FTE).

The successful candidate should have:

- A Master degree (or equivalent) in ecology or a related field.
- High motivation in pursuing academic research.
- High and demonstrated English proficiency.
- Effective communication (both written and spoken in English) and collaboration abilities.
- Willingness to travel abroad and spend 3 years in Groningen, the Netherlands, 1 year in Sydney, Australia.
- Demonstrable time management skills.

We offer you, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- A salary of € 2,872 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,670 gross per month in the fourth and final year for a full-time working week
- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% year-end bonus
- A full-time position (1.0 FTE). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years.
- Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected.
- A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering.

The candidate is expected to start 1 January 2025