Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Ecoscience programme. The position is available from 01 August 2026 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.
Title:
PhD in road ecology
Research area and project description:
A fully funded PhD position is available at the Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University (AU). The position will run for 3 years, starting in August 2026. The candidate will be enrolled in AU’s PhD program in Ecoscience, with workplace at Aarhus, Denmark.
The PhD is part of a project funded by the Danish Road Directorate, with the overall aim to assess how fauna passages (FPs) can maximize ecological outcomes, such as the number of species using FPs, usage rates and connectivity gains. The PhD student will use a combination of camera trap data (which needs to be collected during the project) and existing GPS and wildlife-vehicle collision data. Specifically, the project will investigate
(1) how FP design (size, type) and surrounding landscape composition influence the effectiveness of the FPs for various species (based on camera trap data);
(2) habitat use and selection of roads and FPs by mammals across Europe (based on GPS data); and
(3) if FPs and road fences mitigate wildlife vehicle collisions (based on wildlife-vehicle collision data).
The candidate’s main supervisor will be Dr. Martin Mayer. Co-supervisors will be Dr. Robert Buitenwerf (Department of Bioscience, AU) and Dr. Morten Elmeros (Department of Ecoscience, AU).
Project description: 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 must have a completed master’s degree (120 ETCS) in biology, ecology, biotechnology, evolution, environmental sciences or similar subjects.
The position will require a candidate with a strong interest in and experience with fieldwork, experience with spatial analysis (GIS), and strong statistical skills, especially concerning the analysis of spatial data, using R. Previous experience with camera trapping is an advantage but not a requirement. The candidate must have a driver’s license (B).
A further preference will be given to candidates with good teamwork characteristics and strong communication skills (full proficiency in written and spoken English) and documented scientific publications or other writing experience.
The application and attachments must be submitted electronically and include the following:
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Ecoscience, Building 1110, C. F. Møllers Allé 8, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:
For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.
Application deadline is 30 April 2026 23:59 CEST.
Preferred starting date is 01 August 2026.
Please note:
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.
