Postdoctor in Tropical Forest Ecology, Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Forest Biomass Dynamics

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

At the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BioEnv) we have teaching and research activities that stretch from the alpine ecosystem, through forests, cultivated land and streams, all the way into the marine environment. In these environments we study different levels of biological organisation from genes, individuals and populations, to communities and ecosystems. We work within ecology, evolution, physiology, systematics and combinations of these fields in order to understand the impact of natural and anthropogenic changes of the environment.

The department is placed at two different localities: in Natrium at Medicinaregatan 7B in Gothenburg and at the Kristineberg marine research station operated by the Marine Infrastructure at the University of Gothenburg. The current position is placed at Natrium.

We offer

The University of Gothenburg is a state authority, which means special benefits, more holidays and a great pension. You can read more about our employment benefits here.

Subject area

Tropical Forest Ecology, Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Forest Biomass Dynamics

Subject area description

Forests gain and lose biomass not only through tree growth and mortality, but also when living trees lose branches or parts of their crowns and subsequently recover. These non-lethal fluxes are largely invisible to conventional forest inventories and are therefore poorly represented in forest carbon budgets. This postdoctor position is part of TWIG, a five-year ERC Starting Grant project that will combine repeated terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) with long-term forest inventories to directly quantify damage, recovery and biomass redistribution in tropical forests. The postdoctor will lead the methodological work that converts multi-temporal 3D point clouds into robust estimates of tree- and stand-level biomass change.

Duties

The main aim of the position is to develop, validate and apply the TLS-to-aboveground-biomass (AGB) workflow that underpins TWIG. The postdoctor will contribute to TLS data acquisition at the project sites. The postdoctor will compare TLS-derived biomass estimates with conventional allometric approaches and develop reproducible stand-level carbon-balance calculations that include branch turnover and regrowth. The position will also quantify differences between TLS-based and traditional inventory estimates of biomass stocks, gains, losses and net fluxes.

Field and analytical work will focus on two intensively monitored tropical forests: Amacayacu in the Colombian Amazon and Alto da Figueira in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The postdoctor will work closely with the PI, a PhD student, MSc and BSc students, local field teams, and international collaborators. The work will involve large 3D datasets and reproducible computational workflows, including scripted quality control and, when appropriate, parallel processing on high-performance computing infrastructure. The project includes training and scientific exchange with leading TLS researchers and forest ecologists, as well as participation in international meetings and conferences.

The successful applicant will contribute to cross-training within the TWIG team and will have opportunities to co-supervise MSc and BSc students working with forest inventory and TLS. The position is strongly collaborative and combines method development, field data acquisition, computational analysis and scientific publication.

The postdoctor will be hosted at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences under the main supervision of Dr. Daniel Zuleta. The project is connected to international forest research and monitoring initiatives including ForestGEO, GEO-TREES, the Alliance for Tropical Forest Science Mortality Working Group, and the strategic research area BECC.

Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for employing teaching staff are set out in Chapter 4 of the Higher Education Ordinance and in the Appointment Procedure for Teaching Posts at the University of Gothenburg.

To be eligible for appointment as a postdoc, the applicant is required to have a doctoral degree, a doctoral degree in art or a foreign degree that is deemed to be equivalent to a doctoral degree. This eligibility requirement must be met before the employment decision is made.

In the first instance, those who have completed their degree no more than three years prior to the end of the application period shall be considered. Those who have completed their degree more than three years prior to the end of the application period may also be considered in the first instance if special grounds exist. Special grounds relate to leave of absence due to illness, parental leave, commissions of trust within union organisations, service within the defence services or other similar circumstances, as well as clinical service or service/assignment relevant to the subject area.

Assessment criteria

Required qualifications for the employment:

• To be eligible for appointment as a postdoc, the applicant is required to have a doctoral degree in Biology, Ecology, Forest Engineering or another relevant subject
• Excellent communication skills, written and spoken, in English are necessary since we work in an international environment.
• Strong quantitative and computational skills for processing and analyzing large ecological datasets
• Documented experience with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) data acquisition and processing
• Experience with scientific programming or scripting and reproducible data-analysis workflows
• Willingness and ability to conduct extended field work in tropical countries, including Colombia and Brazil

Desirable qualifications for the employment:

• A strong track record of scientific publications related to terrestrial laser scanning, forest remote sensing, forest biomass, forest structure and/or forest ecology
• Experience with individual-tree segmentation, quantitative structure models (QSMs), or comparable 3D reconstruction approaches
• Experience with forest biomass estimation, tree allometry, uncertainty propagation and/or forest inventory data
• Experience with quantitative analysis and programming in R, Python or similar languages, and/or high-performance or batch-computing workflows
• Fieldwork experience in tropical forests and under remote or logistically challenging conditions
• Language skills in Spanish or Portuguese, or willingness to learn one of these languages

The application should be written in English and must include:

• A cover letter with the applicant’s justification for the application, i.e., that describes how the applicant meets the selection criteria (no more than one page)
• A list of qualifications (CV) (no more than three pages)
• Certificate of PhD exam
• Complete list of publications, including submitted and accepted manuscripts

The most qualified candidates, in relation to the assessment criteria in the advertisement, are invited for an interview.

Employment

The employment is a temporary employment for three years, 100 % of full time, placed at the Department of Biological and Environmental Science. Starting date February 1st, 2027, or upon agreement.

Contact information
If you have any questions about the position, please contact:

Daniel Zuleta, Associate Senior Lecturer
Email: daniel.zuleta@bioenv.gu.se
Webpage: Danielzuleta

Åsa Arrhenius, Head of Department
Tel. +46 31 786 26 25
Email: asa.arrhenius@bioenv.gu.se

If you have any questions about the employment process, please contact HR at the Department of Biological and Environmental Science, hr@bioenv.gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here: Hjalp for sokande

Application

Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal by clicking the “Apply” button. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

Publications that cannot be attached to the application in digital format should be mailed in single copy to:

Department of Biological and Environmental Science
Att: Daniel Zuleta
University of Gothenburg
Box 461 or 463
S-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden

Label the envelope "Postdoctoral Position in Terrestrial Laser Scanning and Forest Biomass Dynamics, PAR 2026/821". The publications must be received no later than the application deadline.

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

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Applications must be received by:November 19, 2026.

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.