Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Environmental Science programme. The position is available from 01 August 2026 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
EMBARQ: PhD student in Environmental Analytical Chemistry, with a focus on non-target screening and metabolomics

Research area and project description:
The project EMBARQ (Evaluating Microbiome-Based Applications for Risk Quantification) aims to develop innovative tools for quantifying environmental and health impacts of bioinoculants, including uses in agriculture and for bioremediation purposes (https://embarq.dk/). The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the University of Copenhagen, Aarhus University, Aalborg University and Statens Serum Institute, the Danish research institute for infectious diseases. The PhD candidate will work in the field of chemical analyses and develop methods for determination of metabolites, toxins and by-products. The PhD candidate will also work with the hazard and risk characterisation of identified compounds.

The PhD candidate will be part of an established team under the lead of Prof. Katrin Vorkamp that studies chemical pollution in the environment. In recent years, the group has developed comprehensive approaches in non-target screening analyses and applied these to a variety of environmental and human samples. The PhD candidate will work with further developments towards metabolomics in agricultural systems, including soil, plants, water and air, besides experimental work with microbial cultures. The PhD candidate will have access to several analytical instruments (HPLC-Orbitrap-HRMS, HPLC-QToF-HRMS, GC-Orbitrap-HRMS, HPLC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, CIC etc.) as well as sample preparation and experimental facilities.

Findings from non-target screening and metabolomics often benefit from a hazard characterization for initial assessments of potential risks to the environment and humans. The PhD candidate will work with relevant in silico tools, potentially adding own developments where relevant, to assess hazards and risks associated with the compounds identified in bioinoculant-treated environments and experimental systems.

The PhD candidate will collaborate closely with other members of Katrin Vorkamp’s research group. The candidate is also expected to follow other EMBARQ activities and to interact with members of the EMBARQ project group. The publication of results in the scientific literature and their presentation at relevant conferences should be actively pursued, and outreach to other target groups is encouraged.

For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:
The candidate holds a master’s degree in (analytical or environmental) chemistry or a closely related discipline.

The candidate should have insights into

• chemical analyses of environmental contaminants or relevant naturally-occurring compounds,
• QA/QC of chemical analyses,
• complex data analysis,
• risk assessment.

The candidate is fluent in English and able to work independently, while seeing themselves as part of a team.

It will be an advantage (but not a requirement), if the candidate has

• experience with laboratory and field work,
• knowledge of microbiology,
• previous publications.

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Environmental Science, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Professor Katrin Vorkamp, e-mail: kvo@envs.au.dk (main supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

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

Application deadline is 30 April 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
Preferred starting date is 01 August 2026.

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.