The Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management invites applicants for a PhD fellowship on methane and VOC emissions from paddy rice soils. The project is a collaboration between the Global Wetland Center, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the ACROVOC project (Aerial sensing of CROpland VOC emissions), funded by the Carlsberg Foundation.
Start date is 1 August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
The project
Rice paddies are a source of BVOC and methane to the atmosphere. Mitigation strategies have been proposed to reduce methane emissions but it remains unclear what the consequences are for net greenhouse gas budgets and BVOC emissions.
We are looking for a PhD student to work on measurements of wetland biogeochemistry with a focus on exchange of greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds based on chamber measurements and aerial measurements using drones. Field manipulation experiments in Vietnam will focus on options for water management as a mitigation strategy.
The PhD student will be responsible for the field manipulation experiments and for subsequent analysis of the observations.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for candidates within the field(s) of geography, ecology, environmental sciences or similar relevant backgrounds. Prior experience with measuring greenhouse gas exchange or other ecosystem/soil biogeochemical processes is considered an asset.
Our group and research- and what do we offer?
The candidate will join an inspiring team bringing together in situ measurements, Earth observation, and modelling of wetland biogeochemistry and hydrology. The position is co-financed by the two projects. The Global Wetland Center will contribute to the development of wetland-based climate change mitigation strategies through a combination of biogeochemical and hydrological modelling, satellite remote sensing and use of Artificial Intelligence techniques. The Center is a collaboration between two departments from the University of Copenhagen (Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management and Department of Computer Sciences), DHI, and GEUS (The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland). The ACROVOC project will collaborate on the site infrastructure with the Global Wetland Center and bring in a complementing focus on interactions between volatile organic compounds (VOC), climate, and cropland. ACROVOC will combine meteorology with near-field (drones, ground-based sensors) and satellite remote sensing, to upscale net VOC emissions.
The position is hosted at the research group Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis, part of the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. We are located in Copenhagen.
We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment.
Supervisors:
Professor Bo Elberling, Dept of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, be@ign.ku.dk, +45 35 32 25 20
Associate professor Andreas Westergaard-Nielsen, Dept of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, awn@ign.ku.dk, +45 35 32 58 40.
The PhD programme
Qualifications needed for the regular programme To be eligible for the regular PhD programme, you must have completed a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master's degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc + 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc) related to the subject area of the project, e.g. geography, ecology, environmental sciences. For information of eligibility of completed programmes, see General assessments for specific countries and Assessment database.
Terms of employment in the regular programme Employment as PhD fellow is full time and for maximum 3 years.
Employment is conditional upon your successful enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD School at the Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.
Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. The position is covered by the Protocol on Job Structure.
Responsibilities and tasks
We are looking for the following qualifications:
Application and Assessment Procedure
Your application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.
Please include :
Application deadline: The deadline for applications is 6 April 2026, 23:59 GMT +2 .
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.
The further process After deadline, a number of applicants will be selected for academic assessment by an unbiased expert assessor. You are notified, whether you will be passed for assessment.
The assessor will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above mentioned research area, techniques, skills and other requirements. The assessor will conclude whether each applicant is qualified and, if so, for which of the two models. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment. You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.
Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in week 19.
Questions For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.
General information about PhD study at the Faculty of SCIENCE is available at the PhD School's website: https://www.science.ku.dk/phd
The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.
Tagged as: Life Sciences
MSCA Project PhD Position MICROSUNSET is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN) funded by the European Union, in which...
ApplyPhD Special Call: Decoding Danish Firm Innovativeness from the Consumer Perspective Aarhus BSS Graduate School, Aarhus University invites applicants for...
ApplyPhD Fellowships In Analytical Chemistry The Analytical Chemistry Group invites applications for two PhD fellowships in chromatography, high-resolution mass spectrometry,...
ApplyPhD Stipends In Mathematics Department of Mathematical Sciences (MATH) invites applicants for PhD stipends in mathematics. The start date is...
ApplyPhD Student In Computational Biophysics And Machine Learning Studies Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins The Kresten Lindorff-Larsen group is looking for...
ApplyPhD Fellowship In Gene Regulation And The Development Of Novel Sequencing Methods The Department of Biology invites applicants for a...
ApplyPlease visit employment.ku.dk.
Don't forget to mention that you found the position on jobRxiv!
