Postdoc Position in Bioinformatics

University of Copenhagen

Position: Postdoctoral Fellow

Duration: 2 years (with potential extension via fellowship/grant applications)

Start Date: 1 January 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter

Working Hours: Full-time

Department: Section for Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PLEN), University of Copenhagen

Research Group: Microbial Interactions Research Group

Position Overview

A postdoctoral fellowship in microbial bioinformatics and modelling is available in the Microbial Interactions Research Group. The successful candidate will contribute to the INTERACT and Wheat Alliance projects, funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, with the aim of understanding community assembly processes influenced by microbe-microbe and plant-microbe interactions.

Scientific Environment

The Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences focuses on plants, microorganisms, animals, and the environment as a basis for sustainable production of food and other biological products. Research and teaching cover natural resources, agriculture, biotechnology, and synthetic biology from the molecular to ecosystem level.

The postdoc will be anchored in the Microbial Interactions Group, led by Associate Professor Mette Haubjerg Nicolaisen, within an international and interdisciplinary research environment.

Project Description

The project aims to deepen the understanding of complex and transient plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere. The postdoc will contribute to establishing predictive models for plant performance under diverse environmental conditions by integrating multi-omics data into causal ecological understanding of the plant-microbe-soil system.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to INTERACT and Wheat Alliance research programs, including plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interaction studies.
• Develop and strengthen soil microbiome analysis, including handling multi-omics data, integrating bioinformatics analyses, meta-transcriptomics, and metabolic network analyses.
• Disseminate research at international and national conferences, publish in peer-reviewed journals, and participate in interdisciplinary research.
• Participate in acquisition of external funding.
• Contribute to teaching activities, including supervision of BSc, MSc, and PhD students.

Qualifications

• PhD in bioinformatics, microbial genomics, computational biology, molecular biology, microbiology, or related fields.
• Strong computational skills and experience analyzing omics datasets.
• Experience handling large datasets (e.g., high-throughput sequencing) and programming/scripting (Python, R).
• Experience in meta-transcriptomics is an advantage.
• Publication record in bioinformatics or microbiome studies.
• Analytical mindset and well-developed collaborative skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Terms of Employment

• Appointment is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.
• Salary and employment terms in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Academics in the State).
• Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

Application Instructions

Submit your application in English including:

1. Curriculum vitae
2. Diplomas (Master and PhD or equivalent)
3. Description of previous/current approach and experience in microbiome analysis
4. Complete publication list

Deadline: 1 November 2025, 23:59

Applications must be submitted electronically via the University of Copenhagen recruitment portal.

Contact Information

Associate Professor Mette Haubjerg Nicolaisen

Email: meni@plen.ku.dk

Telephone: +45 3533 2649

Additional Information

The University of Copenhagen is part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) and promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. The University encourages diversity and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Recruitment Process: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/