Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (EU BON)
Role description: The Life Sciences department of the Natural History Museum comprises the former departments of Botany, Zoology and Entomology, together with their unparalleled collections, curatorial staff and researchers. This post will be based within the Plants Division, working alongside a dedicated team of botanical researchers, specialist herbarium curators and project staff. The NHM plant collections total almost 6 million specimens, about half of which are seed plants and about half of which are non-seed (cryptogamic) plants, collected from across the world over hundreds of years and forming a unique resource for studying the identity, diversity and distribution of plant species.
EU BON is a European Union Framework Programme 7-funded project to establish a Biodiversity Observation Network across the EU, and serves as the infra-structure for the global Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEOBON).
This post-doctoral position is an exciting opportunity to join the research activities of a pan-European consortium of 28 institutions to undertake practical, theoretical and cutting-edge research of direct conservation relevance. The main focus of the post will be to pilot ground-truthing techniques for species conservation assessments that underlie the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants, as well as theoretical estimation of up-scaling and down-scaling of patterns of plant diversity, included Europe-wide measures of plant species richness, endemism and conservation priority, together with other consortium partners.
The post will run for almost 2 years, including 2 full field seasons in order to locate, assess and collate information on priority Red List plant species in various localities across Europe.
Salary: £28,188 per annum plus benefits
Contract: 20.75 Month Fixed-Term Appointment
Closing Date: Midnight on Tuesday 2nd December
Role competences: BEFORE beginning your application - Please read the section below about the ‘Online Application Process’ carefully.
If you wish to be considered for this role you will need to address each of the following competences in the ‘other information’ section of your online application:
1.1. Degree in Biological Sciences or equivalent experience
2. PhD in botanical science or closely related discipline (e.g ecology, evolutionary biology) or equivalent experience
3. Basic experience of planning and undertaking fieldwork overseas, alone or with counterparts
4. Good botanical knowledge and the ability to identify plant species accurately in the field
5. Knowledge of IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria
6. Proven skills in GIS and geographically-based computer modelling
7. Solid skills in statistical modelling and experience with computer programming
8. Good organisational skills, demonstrating the ability to set and manage conflicting priorities.
9. Flexible and adaptable working methods, including the ability to adopt new skills and processes in a fast-paced environment
10. Excellent communication skills with demonstrable experience of managing expectations, influencing and negotiate at all levels
11. Foreign language skills with the ability to converse in a foreign language spoken in Europe when undertaking fieldwork, such as French, Spanish, Italian or Greek
Online application process: You are required to provide a response to ALL of the role competences listed above within the ‘Other Information’ section of the online application form (up to 140 words per competence). In order to demonstrate how you meet each competence fully, please provide specific examples from your achievements, knowledge, skills and/or experience.
IMPORTANT: The ‘Other Information’ section will ‘timeout’ after 35 minutes and any information not saved during this time will be lost. Please therefore prepare your answers on a separate document before transferring and saving them to your application.
The ‘Additional Questions’ regarding right to work in the UK and age are mandatory questions and any applications received without these answers will not be considered.
Please review your application fully before pressing ‘submit application’ as you will not be able to make any further amends after submitting, and any applications received which have not addressed ALL competences in full and/or the mandatory questions will be rejected.
Please note that CVs will not be accepted outside of the online application process or as a substitute for completion of the competences.
The attached ‘Role Specification’ provides further information on the role and how to apply.
Please also be aware that we are not able to offer a certificate of sponsorship for this role. If you do not have the right to work in the UK without a visa sponsored by NHM, then unfortunately you will not be eligible to apply for this vacancy.