PhD student in Limnology: Modelling phytoplankton succession in lakes

Are you interested in exploring the driving processes behind phytoplankton succession in lakes and assessing how phytoplankton will respond to future environmental changes? Are you looking for an employer, who invests in sustainable career development and offers supportive working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a PhD student position at Uppsala University, which will be placed at the Department of Ecology and Genetics within the Limnology program.

The Limnology program is an internationally renowned working environment with staff and students from all over the world. The program engages in research and education on the biogeochemistry and ecology of inland waters, spanning from microscopic to global scale. The program actively promotes a collegial and inclusive research culture through regular social activities, encouraging well-being, creativity, and professional growth.

Project Description
Phytoplankton form an important foundation of lake food webs and their community composition changes markedly throughout the year in response to physical and chemical changes as well as predation pressures. These changes are in turn moderated by different functional traits between groups, which determine how they respond to environmental conditions. Using models, we can study how environmental changes (such as climate warming, eutrophication, and extreme weather events) influence successional patterns in phytoplankton and identify conditions that create windows of opportunity for specific functional groups. We can then use these models to assess potential future changes. We are seeking a highly-motivated PhD student who is keen to use process-based biogeochemical models to investigate these dynamics. The outcomes of this work will improve our ability to forecast changes in phytoplankton communities, with direct application to lake ecosystem functioning and drinking water provisioning. The position is based at Uppsala University’s Department of Ecology and Genetics, within the Limnology program.

Duties
Your duties will have a strong focus on data handling and process-based, dynamical modelling, but also include teaching, course work, and collaborating in research teams.

Requirements
To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in limnology, aquatic ecology, environmental sciences, geoscience, biology, environmental engineering or other relevant subjects at the time of employment, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

Candidates who have not yet completed their degree but are expected to meet the degree requirements before the start date are encouraged to apply.

This work lies in the intersection of physics, biogeochemistry, and ecology, and has a strong numerical emphasis. Eligible candidates need to demonstrate skills with advanced numerical approaches (e.g. modelling, statistics, or large-scale data analysis). Some programming experience (for example in R or Python) is required. Candidates must be able to express themselves to a very high degree in spoken as well as written English. In the evaluation of candidates, particular emphasis will be put on personal qualities such as independence, strong motivation and teamwork skills.

Additional qualifications
A range of additional qualifications is desired, such as:

• Previous experience with lake or other process-based models
• Familiarity with lake processes such as stratification and aquatic biogeochemical cycles
• A good understanding of phytoplankton ecology

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %.Starting date 2027-04-01 oras agreed. Placement: Uppsala, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC)

For further information about the position, please contact: Jorrit Mesman, jorrit.mesman@ebc.uu.se, +31624542396

The application must include:

1. A cover letter describing yourself, your research interests, why you want to pursue a PhD, and why you are suitable for this specific position and project (maximum 2 pages).
2. CV
3. A brief description of your education.
4. A copy of your master's degree and course transcripts, as well as a copy of your master's thesis.
5. Names and contact details of at least two references (email and phone number).
6. Any publications.

Please submit your application by 25 November 2026, UFV-PA 2026/2846.