Postdoc in Environmental and Computer Sciences

Postdoc in Environmental and Computer Sciences:

Modelling Climate Impacts of Fertilisation Management and
Nitrous Oxide Mitigation Measures in Agriculture

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Department of Computer Science
Faculty of SCIENCE
University of Copenhagen

The Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences (PLEN) and Department of Computer Science (DIKU), invites applications for a joint 3-year postdoc position within Environmental and Computer Sciences.

The overall aim of the postdoc position is to improve the modelling of how different agricultural soil, crop and fertiliser (mineral as well as organic) management strategies impact emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the atmosphere through impacts on soil water, carbon and nitrogen dynamics.

The postdoc research activities will be related to two research projects: a) “KlimaGødning - Modeling the climate impact of fertiliser use in Danish agriculture” and b) “SmartField - an innovation platform for N2O mitigation in agriculture”, see further details below.

Both projects build on the agroecosystem model Daisy (https://daisy.ku.dk/) and entails developing and expanding current Daisy submodels and implementations to include more advanced approaches to simulation of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) turnover and emissions of N2O, as affected by organic residue turnover (hot spots and hot moments), crop performance (N uptake and C deposition) and soil water dynamics (evaportranspiration and hydrology). Furthermore, we aim to to build a data infrastructure around the Daisy and Landscape-DNDC models, that can facilitate automatic large-scale calculation of total N2O and potentially include extentions of machine-learning or statistical methods.

The postdoc position is open from 1st May 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. The duration of the postdoc position is for three years, with possibility for extension.

The postdoc
The postdoc will work approximately half of the time on the Klimagødning project (primarily in 2025 and 2026) and the other half on the SmartField project (primarily from 2026).

The project KlimaGødning aims to to develop an improved N modeling approch that can calculate reliable estimates of N2O emissions at the field level from soil biogeophysical conditions and farm activity data, especially related to mineral and organic N fertilisation.  The project is funded by the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries in the “Bedriftsudeledningsprogram 1” and lead by University of Copenhagen with partners from Aarhus University and SEGES Innovation.

The project SmartFIeld (www.smartfield.dk) aims to establish an innovative platform at field-scale allowing for the testing and validation of solutions aimed at mitigating N2O emissions from agricultural fields; and to provide necessary quantitative modelling tools to scale up flux estimates to regional and national level, an to design and target incentives for mitigation measures to be incorporated into regulatory frameworks. The project is funded by the Novo Nordic Foundation and lead by Danish Technolgical Institute, with University of Copenhagen and a range of Danish and interntional research organisations as partners.

We are looking for a postdoc who can contribute to the main activities of the two projects:

• Develop, calibrate and test a Daisy submodel for production and emission of N2O from agricultural soils. Focus will be on how mineral and organic fertiliser application, microbial activity and oxygen consumption, water status and C and N turnover processes interact in space (hot spots) and time (hot moments), creating conditions favourable for N2O emission.
• Development of a data modelling infrastructure, including Daisy and Landscape-DNDC, that can facilitate automatic, large-scale model calculation of total N2O emissions and testing these against large datasets collated in both SmartField and other N2O monitoring projects, to ensure that N2O estimates are more correct than current methods. Furthermore, work will also include exploring how extentions of machine-learning or statistical methods can be included to improve estimates.

The postdoc work will generally involve utilising existing datasets or collating existing data from partners and other stakeholder in order to develop, calibrate and test the different models and sub-models; therefore, a fundamental understanding of advanced modelling and calibration principles is necessary, as is very good skills in data management, processing and analysis. However, knowledge or experience of experimental work (lab and/or field), to produce data needed to parameterise key controlling factors in the models, will be an advantage.

The two projects are a joint undertakings with other national and international partners and the candidate will be require to interact with people from both computer science (DIKU) and agricultural science (PLEN) as well as participating in meeting with the other project partners (AU, Technological Institute, SEGES). Good collaborative and networking skills are therefore essential.

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for candidates with professional as well as personal skills and qualifications as stated below:

• A PhD degree in environmental science, soil science, soil physics or a related discipline.
• Solid knowledge about soil biogeochemistry and soil physics, in the context of agricultural systems.
• Solid experience with modelling of environmental processes in agricultural systems. Experience with the Daisy model will be a clear advantage.
• Solid computer skills and experience with data management and analysis, including advanced data processing, statistical tools and methods. Experience with R and/or Python will be an advantage.
• Experience with acquisition of data from experimental environmental research will be an advantage.
• Excellent English language skills (written as well as oral)
• Good communicative and interpersonal skills.

Our groups and research - what do we offer?

The Climate Change Mitigation and Sustainable Soil Management research group at PLEN aims at developing better ways to manage soils, crops and fertiliser inputs in agriculture that result in reduced emissions of greenhouse gases, while maintaining productivity and avoiding any detrimental environmental effects such as nutrient leaching. (https://plen.ku.dk/english/research/plant_soil/climate-change-mitigation-and-sustainable-soil-management/)

The Image Analysis, Computational Modelling, and Geometry section at DIKU works on computer simulation, numerical optimization, machine learning, computational modelling, geometry and geometric statistics. The work ranges from theoretical analyses, over algorithm development, to solving concrete problems for science, industry and society. (https://di.ku.dk/english/research/image/)

Both groups are part of Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, though in different departments (PLEN and DIKU),  but PLEN will be the primary work place (https://plen.ku.dk/english/). We are located in Copenhagen, PLEN at Campus Frederiksberg and DIKU at North Campus (few kilometres apart). We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment.

The postdoc candidate will also collaborate with other national and international researchers from other partners in the the two projects.

For further info, please conact Professor Lars Stoumann Jensen (PLEN), lsj@plen.ku.dk, mobile: +45 2122 2039 or Professor Sune Darkner (DIKU) . Additional mentors or partners from the two departments may be associated according to project needs.

Terms of employment
The postdoc position is open from 1st May 2025 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.

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.

Application procedure
The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include:

• Cover letter of application (max. one page), incl. your motivation for applying for this position
• Curriculum vitae
• Diplomas (Master and PhD degree or equivalent)
• Research plan – description of current and future research plans
• Complete publication list
• Separate reprints of 3 particularly relevant papersPlease include: 

The deadline for applications is 5 March 2025, 23:59 CET.

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee.

You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

Interviews will be held online on either 28 or 31 March 2025