3-year postdoc on passive acoustic monitoring of cetaceans

We are seeking strong applicants for a 3-year postdoc position to start in October 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter, to work on data management and analysis of passive acoustic data of marine mammals and anthropogenic noise sources.
The position is at the Department of Ecoscience, section for marine mammal research and placed in Aarhus.
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is a key technique for monitoring marine mammals.  At Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University, we have pioneered the use of PAM in the study of harbour porpoises, both as a general tool for population monitoring, and in dedicated impact studies where the effect of human activities on porpoises are quantified.


Expected start date and duration of employment

This is a 3-year postdoc position (extendable); the expected start date is 1 October 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.
 

Job description

The job is anchored in the EU Horizon project DTO-Bioflow, which deals with harmonizing data streams of biological/ecological monitoring data into a centralized database structure. See https://dto-bioflow.eu/ for more information about the project.
A key task of the postdoc will be to establish a database and a common framework for collecting, storage and sharing passive acoustic monitoring data of marine mammals, with primary focus on harbour porpoise detections made with C-PODs/F-PODs. The work will be in close collaboration with the project partners and data holders and data owners in European countries.
In addition to these tasks will be involvement in other projects, depending on interests and qualifications. These projects are centered on monitoring underwater noise and marine mammals and understanding the interactions between vessel noise and other anthropogenic noise and marine mammals.
 

Your profile

To be considered for the position you must have a relevant research profile focused on marine bioacoustics with a quantitative and hypothesis driven approach.

Required skills

• A PhD (or equivalent) in bioacoustics, marine conservation, or similar
• Strong experience with acoustic measurements and/or passive acoustic monitoring of animals, preferably measurements with multi-channel autonomous systems
• Strong quantitative skills and proficiency in programming. Experience with Matlab and/or SQL is an advantage
• Documented experience with scientific writing
• Excellent written and spoken English

Experience with field work on large ships and small boats will be an advantage, as will proficiency in Danish.


Who we are

The Department of Ecoscience is engaged in research projects covering the major biological subdisciplines. We conduct world-class research in the areas of aquatic biology and ecology, ecosystem ecology, biodiversity, conservation biology and wildlife management. The Department currently employs approximately 275 academic and technical staff, as well as many PhD students, distributed on two geographical locations in Aarhus and Roskilde. For more information on the Department see: http://ecos.au.dk/en/.

The postdoc will be part of Section for Marine Mammal Research in Aarhus, which is integrated with the Marine Bioacoustics group, Department of Biology. You will thus be part of a large, diverse, and dynamic group of people working with bioacoustics of marine mammals and bats.


What we offer

The department offers:

• A well-developed research infrastructure, laboratories and access to shared equipment
• An exciting interdisciplinary environment with many national and international collaborators
• A research climate encouraging lively, open and critical discussion within and across different fields of research, a workplace characterised by professionalism, equality and a healthy work-life balance.

International applicants can read more about living and working in Denmark, and the support AU offers on AU’s homepage (https://internationalstaff.au.dk/). The salary is in accordance with the collective agreements between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the relevant eligible trade union (https://dm.dk/english/salary/universities-and-institutions-of-higher-education) and international hires are eligible for reduced tax (https://skat.dk/en-us/businesses/employees-and-pay/non-danish-labour/tax-scheme-for-researchers).
 

Place of work and area of employment

The place of work is Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 3, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark.


Contact information

For further information, please contact: Professor Jakob Tougaard, +45 4098 4585, [email protected].
 


Application procedure

Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the appointment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. All applicants will be notified whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each applicant is given the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that concerns him/her self. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.


Letter of reference

If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.


Formalities and salary range

Technical Sciences refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

 


Aarhus University

Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/