The University of Vienna is a cosmopolitan hub for more than 10,000 employees, of whom around 7,500 work in research and teaching. They want to do research and teach at a place that suits their ideas and work together towards answering the big questions of the future. You also appreciate the exchange between disciplines, cultures and generations? We are looking for a/an
University Assistant postdoctoral
50 Faculty of Life Sciences
Startdate: 01.11.2026 | Working hours: 40 | Collective bargaining agreement: §48 VwGr. B1 lit. b (postdoc)
Limited until: 31.10.2029
Reference no.: 6186
A three year, full-time (40 h) Post Doc position is available at the Division of BioInvasions, Macroecology & Global Change (https://bioinvasions.univie.ac.at) at the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research. This position is composed of a half time-position funded by the University Vienna, and a half-time position funded by a FWF-DFG-research project on macroecological and biogeographic aspects of plant invasions.
A main research focus of the Division is understanding and predicting the effects of environmental changes on the distribution and diversity of biota – with a particular emphasis on biological invasions. This line of research is explicitly focused on the identification of large-scale macroecological patterns using established and innovative statistical modelling approaches. Beyond this research focus, the Division has a strong complementary background on using local scale community data such as vegetation plot data (e.g. EVA, https://euroveg.org/eva-database and ReSurveyEurope, https://euroveg.org/resurvey/) to study facets of vegetation diversity and its spatio-temporal changes. Thus, overall prior research experience and interests should particularly include invasion biology, vegetation science, biodiversity change, macroecology and statistical modelling. We expect applicants to have excellent programming skills, preferably in R.
Extent of Employment
Job grading in accordance with collective bargaining agreement: §48 VwGr. B1 lit. b (postdoc) with relevant work experience determining the assignment to a particular salary grade.
Job Description
The candidate will participate in research on understanding biodiversity patterns (esp. biological invasions, vegetation community composition) and the underlying drivers under past, current and future conditions. As the Division aims to strengthen its research focus, the successful candidate is expected to develop his research portfolio related to the topics mentioned above. A keen interest to keep abreast with ongoing developments in invasion science, vegetation science, global change science, and related fields (e.g. conservation science, environmental policy). Tasks span the full breadth of academic work from conceiving ideas, securing further funding, analyses and publication of scientific results. Supervision / mentoring of students engaged in projects of the Division, as well as discussing and developing ideas with colleagues in the team-oriented work culture of the Division is expected. The position includes teaching obligations of c. 2 hours per week.
Profile
- Doctoral degree/PhD in biology (or equivalent)
- Experience in the fields of Invasion Science, Vegetation Science, Global Change Science and/or Macroecology
- Experience in studying biodiversity patterns across spatial and temporal-scales from regional to global
- Experience in advanced statistical analyses of scientific data, preferably in R
- Interest and prior experience in the development of external (third-party) grant applications. Ambitions (or previous experience) for developing high level international grant applications (e.g., ERC, Horizon Europe) is a plus.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (and preferably German)
- Ability and willingness to work in teams
- Experience in teaching
- Experience in project administration and personnel management
What we offer
Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible working hours, remote/hybrid and/or part-time work (upon agreement).
Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.
Good public transport connections: Your workplace in the center of beautiful Vienna is easily accessible by public transport.
Internal further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.
Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 5.014,30 increases if we can credit professional experience.
Equal opportunities for everyone: We look forward to diverse personalities in the team!
It is that easy to apply
- With your scientific and educational curriculum vitae
- With your letter of motivation
- With your list of publications
- Doctoral Degree
- Contact details of persons who could provide reference letters
- Via our job portal / Apply now - button
For further information please contact Franz Essl (franz.essl@univie.ac.at) or Bernd Lenzner (bernd.lenzner@univie.ac.at).
If you have any content questions, please contact:
Franz Essl
We look forward to new personalities in our team!
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.
University of Vienna. Space for personalities. Since 1365.
Application deadline: 10/12/2026