"Postdoc Position: Plant Biodiversity and Drought on Estuarine Dikes"

BONSAI is a project within the EU programme Interreg North-West Europe that aims to enhance flood resilience in tidal estuaries across Western Europe by drawing insights from diverse climate zones and developing proactive adaptation strategies. The Department of Ecology is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on the BONSAI project and study the impact of drought events on dike vegetation and this vegetation’s resilience to subsequent flooding.

Your research will address two central questions:

• How does the composition of vegetation on estuarine dikes vary along a European climate gradient?
• How is dike vegetation in Northwestern Europe affected by extreme drought events, and how does plant species biodiversity contribute to mitigating such abiotic stress?

To answer these questions, you will conduct field surveys of dike vegetation at locations along the north-south climate gradient in Europe, and link your findings of vegetation patterns to potential future shifts driven by climate change. You will design and implement field trials to assess the effects of drought events on current dike vegetation at selected locations (e.g., the Netherlands, Belgium, France).

In addition, you will join in data collection and report on a current longer-term experiment on drought resilience of dike vegetation types at Radboud University's experimental garden, and develop a strategy for the continuation of this experiment. Moreover, you will join the regular international meetings of the consortium and co-organise a theme day during a summer school (scheduled in 2027) on the role of dike grassland management in water safety and biodiversity. Lastly, you will co-design and teach an educational module on dike vegetation and biodiversity.

Requirements: You are passionate about both fundamental and applied research. You hold a recent PhD degree in biology, ecology, environmental science or another field related to the project topic, and have a demonstrated track record of scientific and/or applied research publications. Ideally, you have knowledge of Northwestern European plant species and a solid understanding of vegetation ecology. You have hands-on experience with ecological data collection and are proficient in data analysis and statistical methods. You are willing to travel to field sites across Europe, and, following training, can independently conduct vegetation surveys and collaborate effectively with local partners in the project. You have a good command of spoken and written English at C1 level. You like collaborating with other people in a cross-disciplinary and international setting.

Conditions of employment: We will give you a temporary employment contract of 2.5 years. Your salary within salary scale 10 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week. You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus. We offer Dual Career Coaching. You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Additional employment conditions: Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

Employer: Radboud University, Faculty of Science. The Faculty of Science (FNWI), part of Radboud University, engages in groundbreaking research and excellent education. In doing so, we push the boundaries of scientific knowledge and pass that knowledge on to the next generation.