Postdoctoral Researcher - Functional Diversity and Ecosystem Services (TerraChem Project)

Teaser Text

The European research project TerraChem (www.terrachem.eu) is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to explore how chemical stressors affect biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and the services nature provides to people. The position will combine ecological data analysis with statistical and spatial modeling to quantify chemical impacts across multiple levels of biological organization.

Your work will focus on linking species-specific ecotoxicity data with information on species abundances and functional traits to assess how chemical exposure alters functional diversity—including its richness, evenness, and divergence components. You will investigate how these changes cascade across trophic levels and develop damage metrics that capture biodiversity loss under different contamination scenarios.

Building on this, you will connect biodiversity and functional diversity loss to changes in key terrestrial ecosystem services, such as organic matter decomposition and maintenance of genetic diversity. You will model how these effects propagate across ecosystems and scale up to larger geographical regions, while accounting for multiple environmental stressors.

We are looking for a candidate with a PhD in ecology, ecotoxicology, or environmental modeling, and strong analytical and programming skills (e.g., R or Python). Experience with biodiversity metrics, ecosystem service modeling, or spatial analysis is an advantage.

The TerraChem project runs until October 31st 2026 and the applicant is invited to start as soon as possible.

What you will do

• Quantify impacts of chemical stressors on biodiversity by linking species-specific ecotoxicity data with species traits and abundances to assess changes in functional diversity.
• Link biodiversity and functional diversity loss to ecosystem service changes.
• Scale up and spatialize model outcomes to regional and continental levels, integrating the influence of multiple environmental stressors.

Where you will work

Leiden University is situated between Amsterdam (36 km) and The Hague (15 km) and was founded in 1575, making it the oldest university in the Netherlands. It houses around 35,000 students originating from 112 nationalities, facilitated by approximately 8,000 staff.

The Institute of Environmental Science (CML) at Leiden University offers a vibrant and supportive community of scientists committed to the challenges of sustainability. CML distinguishes itself for its attention to professional development in coordination with the interests of its scientists. As such, there are plenty of opportunities to learn new skills, expand your knowledge, collaborate across disciplines, and experiment in a friendly environment fully embodying academic freedom across all career levels. 

The core focus of CML is to perform research and education in the interdisciplinary field of Environmental Sciences. CML focuses on the sustainable use of natural resources and preservation of natural capital and biodiversity. CML has a culture of mutual support and collaboration between researchers. CML has two Departments: Industrial Ecology (CML-IE) and Environmental Biology (CML-EB). Presently, about 150 fte (including postdocs and PhDs) are employed at CML. CML further collaborates with TU Delft and Erasmus University in the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability (LDE-CfS), and with the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre.

The Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) is positioned in the Faculty of Sciences. The Faculty of Science is a world-class faculty where staff and students work together in a dynamic international environment. It is a faculty where personal and academic development are top priorities. Our people are committed to expanding fundamental knowledge by curiosity and looking beyond the borders of their own discipline; their aim is to benefit science and to make a contribution to addressing the major societal challenges of the future. The research carried out at the Faculty of Science is very diverse, ranging from mathematics, information science, astronomy, physics, chemistry and bio-pharmaceutical sciences to biology and environmental sciences. The research activities are organized in eight institutes. These institutes offer eight bachelor’s and twelve master’s programmes. The faculty has grown strongly in recent years and now has more than 2.800 staff and almost 6000 students. We are located at the heart of Leiden’s Bio Science Park, one of Europe’s biggest science parks, where university and business life come together.

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