Assistant Professor in Environmental Biotechnology for the Agriculture-Bioenergy Nexus

Applicants are invited to apply for a 4-year assistant professor position in the cross-section of agricultural waste management and bioenergy at the Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Aarhus University, Denmark. The successful candidate will be hired in the cross-section of the department’s research activities within environmental engineering and industrial biotechnology. The successful applicant is expected to develop an independent research area with focus on biological processes leading to mitigation of GHG emissions from agricultural waste management chains, while also exploring potential bioenergy production and optimization, as well as new potential carbon utilization pathways.

Expected start date and duration of employment
This is a 4–year position available from 1 June 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Job description
The position is specifically targeting green transition in agriculture with a strong focus on carbon-tracking and greenhouse gas mitigation combined with improved biomass conversion technologies and upgrading processes from a whole-chain perspective. The successful candidate is expected to target optimized carbon management in the agricultural waste chain by minimizing loss of methane and maximizing yield of biomethane for energy or other valuable end products. The candidate should be able to perform and direct high-quality experimental research including application of state-of-the-art methodologies. Bio-methanation and other biological upgrading strategies is expected to be part of the research portfolio. The research activity is combined with teaching at the bachelor and master levels, as well as supervision of students from bachelor level to master and PhD level.
The successful applicant will be part of at least two already ongoing projects. In addition, you should be able to develop new research branches combining process knowledge, microbial pathways, inhibition mechanisms, and metabolite characterization. You should have a strong background in setting up complex multiphase experiments involving state-of-the-art instrumentation. The research will be done in collaboration with experts on emission measurements, process modelling, anaerobic digestion, and gas upgrading.

Your profile
Applicants should hold a PhD in Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology or equivalent.
It is a requirement that you have:

• Experience with conducting and designing laboratory experiments for characterizing and quantifying processes in waste materials.
• Documented skills in treatment and analysis of complex datasets with multiple online and offline analytical parameters
• Competences for physical, chemical and biological characterization of waste materials
• Experience with development of methane production inhibitors
• Experience with bioenergy processes, preferably biomethanation
• Documented competence in dissemination and publication of scientific articles
• Some teaching experience according to the progression level of the position

Furthermore, applicants are expected to:

• have strong cooperation and communication skills.
• be independent in their research.
• have strong skills in scientific writing and written English as documented by publication of peer-reviewed research articles.
• be a team player and contribute to a working environment with a positive atmosphere.

Who we are
The successful candidate is employed in the Section of Environmental Engineering, which is a part of Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering. Researchers in the section develop environmental technologies as well as models of physical, chemical, and biological processes that are important for environmental quality. The research activities contribute to better management of animal manure and bio-waste through generation of new knowledge and quantification of mitigation effects. Emission of ammonia, greenhouse gases, VOCs, and sulfur compounds from manure management and biogas production for energy recovery from organic wastes have been the main applications to date. The work in this group is centered around basic chemistry, microbial transformations in natural and engineered ecosystems, mass transfer, data analysis, modelling and computer programming.

What we offer
The department and section offer:

• a well-developed research infrastructure, laboratories, and access to shared equipment
• special facilities like a livestock housing climate laboratory, pilot-scale slurry storage facility, and an expansive research biogas plant incl. gas upgrading and P2X.
• an exciting interdisciplinary environment with many national, international and industrial collaborators
• a research climate encouraging lively, open and critical discussion within and across different fields of research
• a work environment with close working relationships, networking and social activities
• a workplace characterised by professionalism, equality and a healthy work-life balance.

Place of work and area of employment
The area of employment is Aarhus University with affiliated institutions. The position includes two permanent workplace addresses in Aarhus main campus (Gustav Wieds Vej 10, DK-8000 Aarhus) and AU Campus Viborg (Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele), respectively. The attendance at each workplace address is by agreement with your immediate supervisor.

Contact information
For further information, please contact: Prof. Anders Feilberg ([email protected]; +45 3089 6099) or Asc. Prof. Michael VW Kofoed ([email protected]; +45 9352 1051)

Deadline
Applications must be received no later than 8 January, 2025.

Application procedure
Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the assessment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. The selection is made on the basis of an assessment of who of the candidates are most relevant considering the requirements of the advertisement. All applicants will be notified within 6 weeks whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee and will receive his/her assessment. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.

Letter of reference
If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.

Formalities and salary range
Technical Sciences refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/

Department: Env.Eng. - Blichers Allé 20/Env.Eng. - Blichers Allé 20

Deadline: 08 January 2025

Location: Tjele Blichers Allé 20