Postdoc in Nitrogen cycling in organic arable cropping systems

The Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, Denmark, is offering a fulltime postdoctoral position to investigate nitrogen cycling in organic arable cropping systems, starting 1 June, 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position will be available for a 3-year period.

You will be part of a research environment focusing on nutrient cycling in agricultural production systems. You will be contributing mainly to the area of nitrogen cycling in organic arable cropping systems including grain legumes, oilseed rape and grass-clover crops. The activities are part of inter-disciplinary projects with the engineering department at AU and other participants. More specifically you will be involved in studies of nitrogen transfer from grain legumes to oilseed rape, cover crops and weeds. You will be involved in a long-term field experiment with measurement of nitrate leaching and in studies of utilization of biogas digestates based on grass-clover.

We expect that you will be an integrated part of the research environment and that you will contribute positively to the social life of the workplace. We also expect that you will take part in our teaching activities, and that you will report research results in high-impact scientific journals.

Your profile

We are searching for a highly motivated candidate who has:

• A PhD in agronomy, soil science, biology, environmental science, or similar
• Teamwork skills and the capacity to engage meaningfully in collaborative efforts
• A fondness for initiating action and the motivation to pursue a scientific career
• Documented experience in scientific writing and publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals
• Research experience in some of the areas nitrogen cycling, organic farming, cropping systems, anaerobic digestion and manure management.

Further, we will prefer candidates with some of the following qualifications:

• Teaching and supervision experience at the BSc and MSc level
• Interest and experience in developing impactful national and international research applications
• Experience in planning and conducting field experiments and sampling
• Skills with handling larger datasets
• Experience in planning and conducting laboratory work within nitrogen turnover in soil
• Insight into organic farming and organic crop management
• Experience with measurement of nitrate leaching and use of isotopes in studies of nutrient cycling

Who we are

At the Department of Agroecology, our main goal is to contribute to sustainable solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems within the areas of soil, plants, animals, humans, and the environment. We want to make a difference by contributing to both fundamental knowledge generation and the attainment of sustainable production systems via innovative research, contracted policy advice, and education. We offer professional laboratories, greenhouses, semi-field, and field-scale research facilities, advanced computing capacities as well as an extensive national and international researcher network. The department consists of eight research sections with around 360 highly skilled employees, of which approximately 50% are scientific staff. More information can be found here.

We believe in encouraging inclusion, acceptance, and understanding by employing staff who bring diverse perspectives to our department.

What we offer

• A welcoming and multicultural research setting that promotes professionalism, where accountability, flexibility, and collaboration are key components for resolving essential tasks
• A welcoming social environment designed to promote discussions and cultivate inclusive relationships, prioritizing mutual trust, respect, kindness, and productive professional exchanges
• A flexible workplace with a good work-life balance
• A workplace where we work consistently with diversity, equity, and inclusion
• An exciting and varied working environment, where two days rarely resemble each other. We are often busy, and we work creatively for solutions to societal issues

Special benefits when working in Denmark

• Subsidized preschool childcare and a free education system from primary school up to university level
• Universal health insurance as a resident of Denmark, including family members officially residing in Denmark
• Five weeks paid holiday per year
• In connection with childbirth: the right to have a total of 52 weeks shared maternal/paternal leave with full or partial salary pay

Place of Work

The place of work is Aarhus University, Campus AU Viborg, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark. The affiliation will be with the Department of Agroecology.

Contact information 

More information can be obtained from Professor Peter Sørensen, email: ps@agro.au.dk

Deadline 

All applications must be received no later than 21 March, 2025. 

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.

If you wish to add a referee after you have submitted your application, you must send this person’s details (name, job title, place of work, and email address) as well as the name of the position you have applied for to: HR.Nattech@au.dk

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/