Postdoctoral Researcher Position at the Center for Volatile Interactions

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have a profound impact on local and regional climates. Yet, there is high uncertainty of this impact due to the lack of reliable estimates for natural emissions and uptake of these reactive volatiles. All organisms produce, and some consume, mixtures of diverse volatile compounds such as VOCs, reactive nitrogen gases (e.g., HONO), and sulfur/halogenated compounds (e.g., DMS and methylhalides). However, biological sources and sinks of volatiles, other than terrestrial plants, remain poorly characterized. In VOLT, we focus on VOC transformations associated with soil, cryptogams, freshwater, seawater, and glacial ice environments, as well as plant leaf and rhizosphere microbial communities. Our research encompasses field, experimental, and laboratory work and includes rate measurements, experiments with stable isotopes, and molecular analyses to assess volatile production/consumption processes and identify the organisms involved. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic, collaborative, and international research environment. VOLT is housed in Universitetsparken, Copenhagen, where we have laboratory facilities and state-of-the-art instrumentation for analyses of volatile compounds, molecular analyses of microbial community structure and activity, as well as incubation and climate chamber facilities. Marine Biological Section, located in Elsinore, provides state-of-the-art facilities for molecular and process-based studies of marine microorganisms.

The postdoc’s duties will include research within VOCs as well as teaching. The candidate will conduct independent and collaborative research on volatile organic compound (VOC) cycling across ecosystems. Research activities will include the design and implementation experiments investigating the importance of microbial VOC consumption and transformation processes using stable isotopes. The candidate will apply cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent approaches including microbial isolation, stable isotope probing, functional gene analysis, metagenomics, bioinformatics, and the integration of microbial chemical and environmental datasets. The candidate will contribute to establishing a SIP protocol within VOLT and support the application of isotope-based approaches across the Centre’s research activities. The candidate is expected to publish research findings, contribute to development of competitive external funding applications, and actively participate in conferences and build research collaborations. The applicant will contribute to organization, teaching and training activities within the Department and Center, and participate in the supervision of students.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a PhD in environmental microbiology, microbial ecology or a similar field, who has experience from research environments and who thrives in a dynamic and interdisciplinary research center.

The candidate should have a strong publication record in microbial ecology, environmental microbiology, isotope-based approaches (e.g. 13C labeling experiments), biogeochemistry, or related fields. Experience with stable isotope probing (SIP) and isotope-based approaches for studying microbial processes is desirable. Experience conducting independent research, securing competitive research funding, and contributing to the development of external funding applications will be considered an advantage.

The candidate should demonstrate hands-on experience with cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent approaches, including microbial isolation, enrichment and physiological characterization. Experience in VOC measurements using mass spectrometric methods, especially PTR-MS and GC-MS (or related instrumentation) is required, as is experience in designing and conducting both field and laboratory studies involving environmental and biological samples, especially soil and plant-associated microbiomes.

The candidate must have experience in analyzing complex VOC datasets, including processing raw PTR-MS (e.g., PTRwid or PTRViewer, or similar software), as well as experience in programming, command-line environments, and statistical analysis (e.g., R, Python, or related tools).

Experience with metagenomics (e.g., short-read, long-read, and hybrid sequencing approaches), bioinformatic workflow implementation, functional gene probe design and analyses, and studies of low-abundance microorganisms will be considered an advantage. Experience integrating microbial, chemical, and environmental datasets is desirable.

Further information on the Department is linked at https://www1.bio.ku.dk/ . Inquiries about the position can be made to Professor Anders Priemé, aprieme@bio.ku.dk .

The position is open from 1/10/2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Terms of employment

The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking APPLY for position below.