Last application date Jun 09, 2025 00:00
Department LA20 - Department of Environment
Contract Limited duration
Degree Masters, or Honours, degree in Bioscience Engineering, Biology, Ecology, Forestry or equivalent in Life or Mathematical Sciences with background in Ecology
Occupancy rate 100%
Vacancy type Research staff
Job description
ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY
Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities.
With its 11 faculties and more than 85 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.
For the Forest & Nature Lab at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering we are looking for a m/f/x
Doctoral fellow within the Horizon Europe project “Risks from climate change and biodiversity loss across systems and scales: Leveraging the potential of tree-based solutions for adaptation in Europe (Trees4Adapt)”
Summary of the whole project
Climate change and biodiversity loss are interdependent crises, but knowledge gaps on their interplays prevent effective risk assessment and solutions. Trees4Adapt will 1) enhance empirical understanding of climate change, biodiversity loss, their interdependencies, and how these influence risks; 2) develop evidence-informed tools and solutions that build climate resilience and support biodiversity at the same time. We focus particularly on tree-based solutions, which are nature-based solutions involving trees that promise to safeguard the EU by delivering cross-sectoral benefits, if we better tailor their design and implementation.
Trees4Adapt combines field-quantified understanding from multi-national research platforms and case studies representative of boreal, temperate, and Mediterranean biomes with novel bioeconomic modelling and high-resolution modelling and mapping of complex risks. Our activities operate from the plot- to EU-level, with interdisciplinary models developed during the project integrating the scale-dependent findings. Trees4Adapt applies co-creational approaches, and key stakeholders - including public administration and authorities - from the local- to EU levels will actively guide, inform and participate in the project. This will ensure the outputs of our research are useable, custom-made to stakeholders’ specific needs, and result in changes in decision-making and other impact in relation to recognized societal needs and key EU and global policy priorities including the Adaptation, Forest, and Biodiversity Strategies. Trees4Adapt’s consortium consists of leading experts on climate change science, ecosystems and land use changes, nature-based solutions, transdisciplinary and participatory research, bioeconomics, environmental policy, risk assessment and modelling.
YOUR JOB
Here we advertise for one PhD position within the broader Trees4Adapt project. The PhD will focus on studying microclimate and biodiversity data in tree diversity observatories and experiments across Europe. The goal is to provide empirical understanding of the co-benefits of tree species and mixtures on climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation. This is expected to provide novel insights on the mechanisms by which these co-benefits occur (e.g., by considering how trees best buffer the microclimate from macroclimatic changes). We aim to advance the understanding of interlinkages, synergies and trade-offs among climate adaptation, cross-taxa biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in young plantations and mature forests across Europe. For this, data will be collected from 200 plots at eight sites in seven European countries (Italy, France, Romania, Poland, Germany, Belgium and Finland) spanning a gradient in mean annual temperature of c. 11°C. Sites are part of the long-standing research platforms (a) TreeDivNet (https://treedivnet.ugent.be/), representing tree diversity experiments, with plots established by planting tree monocultures and mixtures in homogeneous environmental conditions, and (b) FunDivEUROPE (http://project.fundiveurope.eu/), representing comparative study plots in mature forests along gradients of tree diversity, keeping environmental conditions as constant as possible.
WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
- We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months. The PhD will be based at Ghent University in Belgium for two years and at the FMI, Helsinki in Finland for two years.
- Your contract will start on 1 October 2025 at the earliest.
- Collaboration in young, dynamic and multidisciplinary scientific teams.
- The possibility to gain experience in doing scientific research, with many travelling opportunities and field work across Europe.
- The opportunity to obtain a joint PhD degree at Ghent University and FMI in a topical field of applied environmental sciences and climate change.
- The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by Team Personnel Administration based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax. Click here for more information about our salary scales
- All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits.
Research Environment
The successful candidate will be based jointly at the Forest & Nature Lab (www.fornalab.ugent.be) of Ghent University, Belgium and at the Weather and Climate Change Impact Research Unit (hereafter WCCIRU) of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland (https://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/weather-and-climate-change-impact-research). This position will also be in strong collaboration with Freiburg University (Germany) and the Natural Resources Institute Finland LUKE (Helsinki, Finland), and other collaborators within the Trees4Adapt project.
ForNaLab (UGent) consists of 30 staff members and is headed by professors Kris Verheyen, Lander Baeten, Jan Mertens and Pieter De Frenne. The research group is part of the Department of Environment at the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University (https://www.ugent.be/bw/environment). The Forest & Nature Lab aims at understanding the interactions between the ecological processes, composition, and structure of terrestrial ecosystems, with a clear link to management and policy. ForNaLab is actively involved in numerous national and international projects and networks, including FLEUR (www.fleur.ugent.be), forestREplot (www.forestreplot.ugent.be), TreeDivNet (www.treedivnet.ugent.be), PASTFORWARD (https://pastforward.ugent.be/), FORMICA (https://formica.ugent.be/) and CanopyChange (https://canopychange.ugent.be/).
WCCIRU (FMI) consist of 30 staff members led by research professor Hilppa Gregow, operating under the Meteorological and Marine Research Program. It is actively involved in various national and international projects, including PIISA (https://piisa-project.eu/), CLIMAAX (https://www.climaax.eu/) and VALORADA (https://valorada-project.eu/). The WCCIRU aims at increasing understanding on the connections between climate change and extreme weather phenomena across spatiotemporal scales, adaptation needs, the economic and social impacts of climate change, the develop seasonal forecasts and their application across sectors.
Additional information
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Pieter De Frenne, via telephone at
+32 9 264 90 36 or via email at [email protected] or prof. Juha Aalto via telephone at +358 50 409 09 63 or via email at [email protected]
More information on our work and research group is available at http://www.fornalab.ugent.be and at https://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/weather-and-climate-change-impact-research
Job profile
- You have a Masters, or Honours, degree in Bioscience Engineering, Biology, Ecology, Forestry or equivalent degree in Life or Mathematical Sciences with background in Ecology. Also, candidates that will obtain their degree in the summer of 2025 are invited to apply.
- You have excellent study grades.
- You have a strong interest in forests, meteorology, ecology, and climate change.
- You have good knowledge of both the biotic and abiotic components and processes in forest ecosystems.
- You are highly motivated to perform scientific research that involves field work, quantitative data analyses as well as writing scientific publications.
- You have good skills in managing and processing spatio-temporal data using e.g. GIS, and have basic understanding on modelling (statistical or process-based)
- You are a team player with good communication skills, you like to write and discuss ideas. An excellent knowledge of the English language is required.
- You are highly motivated to work in a collaborative project with other PhD students, postdocs and technical assistants.
How to apply
How to apply
To apply, please send us the following documents, merged into a single PDF file:
- A one-page cover letter outlining your motivation to apply for the position(s)
- Your CV
- A transcript of records
Send this PDF document to [email protected] and [email protected] by 9 June 2025 at 17:00h Central European time.
The interviews with selected applicants will be organized at the end of June and/or the first week of July 2025.
