Centre for Environmental and Climate Research

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 47 000 students and more than 8 800 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

The role of microbes in physical soil carbon stabilziation

Soils store much more carbon (C) than the atmosphere, and microorganisms play an important role to govern whether C compounds remain in the soil, or whether they are disintegrated back to CO2. An important mechanism of long-term C storage is the physical stabilization of organic matter within the soil structure, meaning that C can be “hidden” from its decomposers in the complex matrix of soil aggregates, but the processes involved are not well understood.

We will study the dynamic process of microbial soil aggregate formation, and the nature of fungal “gluing” exudates, with help of different synchrotron light techniques, isotope probing and microfluidic systems. We will combine these micro-scale studies with experiments at field scale, where we analyse a soil aggregate structure gradient and investigate the amount of spatio-physical inaccessible C in relation to its aggregate stability.

Duties

  • Performance of experiments on fungal soil aggregation in sterile cultures and soil batches
  • FT-IR and Raman microspectroscopy analysis in microfluidic soil chips
  • Dimitris project/other?
  • Sample analysis with (photothermal) IR- and Raman microspectroscopy and synchrotron based Scanning Transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and x-ray fluoerescence (XRF).
  • Data analysis and interpretation
  • Publication of the results

Requirements

  • PhD certificate in natural sciences
  • Very good proficiency in written and communicated English
  • Good communication skills and the ability to work well with other members of the group
  • Very good expertise in IR- (including sub-micrometre IR spectroscopy) and Raman microspectroscopy on environmental and soil samples
  • Experience in STXM on environmental microbial samples
  • Poficiency in data analysis for IR-, Raman microspectroscopy and STXM
  • Expertise in handling sterile fungal cultures, including arbuscular mycorrhizal cultures

Merits

  • Experience with interdisciplinary projects
  • Relevant postdoctoral experience in soil sciences and microbial soil aggregation

Terms of employment

Temporary employment for 12 months.

Instructions on how to apply

Applications shall be written in English. Please draw up the application in accordance with LTH’s Academic qualifications portfolio – see link below. Upload the application as PDF-files in the recruitment system. Read more: http://www.lth.se/english/working-at-lth/to-apply-for-academic-positions-at-lth/ 

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment February 2020 for one year
Salary Monthly salary
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100
City Lund
County Skåne län
Country Sweden
Reference number PA2019/4387
Contact
  • Edith Hammer, Associate Sr University Lecturer, + 46 732 44 19 68, edith.hammer@biol.lu.se
  • My Geborek, Human Resources Coordinator, +46 46 222 48 53, my.geborek@science.lu.se
Union representative
  • OFR/ST:Fackförbundet ST:s kansli, 046-222 93 62
  • SACO:Saco-s-rådet vid Lunds universitet, 046-222 93 64
  • SEKO: Seko Civil, 046-222 93 66
Published 08.Jan.2020
Last application date 22.Jan.2020 11:59 PM CET

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