PhD in Dissolved organic nitrogen losses from agricultural land – identification of sources and fate of organic nitrogen leaching in the soil profile

Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Agroecology programme. The position is available from 1 July 2024 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
PhD in Dissolved organic nitrogen losses from agricultural land – identification of sources and fate of organic nitrogen leaching in the soil profile

Research area and project description:
For decades a key environmental focus in Denmark and the European union has been to reduce nitrogen losses to water bodies, where nitrogen increase the risk of eutrophication and poor groundwater quality. We have built a solid knowledge base on inorganic nitrogen losses from agricultural soils to the aquatic environment – in particular nitrate – but losses of organic nitrogen have been largely overlooked. The scattered information available on dissolved organic nitrogen losses show that this pool can constitute up to 50% of the total nitrogen losses. In parallel we have a drive towards increasing soil organic matter – and thereby soil organic nitrogen pools – with the necessary aim of mitigating rising atmospheric CO2 levels. Such increase in soil organic nitrogen pools potentially holds a risk of increasing organic nitrogen leaching. In order to design sustainable cropping systems, it is therefore important to understand both the magnitude of dissolved organic nitrogen leaching and the management and mechanisms leading to this leaching.

In this project, leaching of dissolved organic nitrogen will be studied from different crops, managements and soil types to groundwater and surface waters. The sources and fate of dissolved organic nitrogen will be studied by elucidating the chemical nature of organic nitrogen moving in the soil and subsurface. The studies will be based in unique long-term experimental and monitoring platforms, which will allow an unseen chance of coupling historic management factors to organic nitrogen leaching. Publication of high-impact scientific papers during the project period are foreseen.

The successful candidate will join the ‘orgANiC’ project and will be under supervision of Jim Rasmussen in the Climate and Water section at the Department of Agroecology. Jim Rasmussens team deals with carbon and nitrogen cycling in legume-based agroecosystems with a strong focus on elucidating the fate of organic nitrogen in the plant-soil-microbial system. Further, tight collaboration is expected with Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, The Geochemical Department at Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany.

Project description
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Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants to the PhD position must have a relevant Master’s degree (or graduate in the very near future – documentation for final thesis and date of examination must be enclosed in the application) or equivalent.

The applicants shall preferably have a background in one or more of the following topic areas:

• agronomy, agrobiology or agro-environmental management,
• soil or environmental chemistry, analytical chemistry or
• biology, geology or geography with a focus on managed agroecosystems.
  

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work AU Viborg, Research Centre Foulum, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:

• Jim Rasmussen, [email protected] (main supervisor)
• Kirsten Lønne Enggrob, [email protected] (co-supervisor)
• Birgitte Hansen, [email protected] (co-supervisor)

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 2 April 2024 at 23:59 CEST

Preferred starting date is 1 July 2024

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

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. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.