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 September 2026 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
PhD position: Drone-based tissue sampling, body condition, and energetics of whales (WildBotics MSCA Doctoral Network, Theme 3)

Research area and project description:
This is a fully funded PhD position within the ‘WildBotics – Autonomous Sampling with Robotics in the Wild for Nature Conservation’, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network project (https://www.wildbotics.eu/home). The specific project (DC10) is part of Theme 3 (WP3): Analysis of large, sample-based datasets for wildlife ecology & biodiversity conservation and will be hosted and enrolled at the Marine Mammal Research section (https://ecos.au.dk/en/researchconsultancy/research-areas/marine-mammal-research) at the Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University (Risø campus), Denmark, in collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark (Prof. Robert Ladig) and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (Prof. Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen).

This PhD will develop and test a drone-based system for collecting skin and blubber samples from large whales, with a focus on bowhead whales in West Greenland. The approach aims to provide a less invasive alternative to current biopsy methods, enabling sampling of more elusive individuals and, where relevant, sampling from land. The system will be engineered at the University of Southern Denmark, in close collaboration with the PhD student, who will carry out extensive testing and ultimately field deployments. The project will therefore interface closely with technical developments from Themes 1 and 2 within WildBotics and contribute datasets for evaluating and training new robotic and analytical tools.

Using the newly developed system, the PhD will collect tissue samples from bowhead whales (and potentially other species) to address questions related to nutritional status, body condition, bioenergetics, and prey consumption, contributing to the broader ecological objectives of Theme 3. While the first chapter of the PhD will focus on system development and validation, chapters 2 and 3 will address ecological questions that can be answered using these samples (e.g. pregnancy detection, sex-specific variation in prey consumption). We are therefore seeking an ecologist with a strong interest in working at the interface between ecology and engineering.

Applicants should have a strong background or interest in ecology, physiology, and bioenergetics, and ideally ecological modelling. Experience with fieldwork, drones, data analysis, or programming (e.g. R) is advantageous but not essential.

Salary, holiday payment, pension contributions and the like include all employer and employee's taxes and contributions. Thus, figures are before taxes are paid, and taxes may differ depending on individual circumstances. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement, and salary is depending on seniority. Salary includes a non-pensionable PhD supplement. The allowances mentioned in the EU work programme (living allowance, mobility allowance and, if applicable, family allowance) will be part of the salary. Allowance rates can be found in the relevant EU Work Programme (under MSCA doctoral network - Applicable unit contributions), and country correction coefficient can be found in the same document.

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:
Applicants to the PhD position must hold a Master’s degree (120 ECTS) in a relevant field.

• Applicants already holding a PhD degree are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants must have less than 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience.
• Applicants must comply with the MSCA mobility rule and not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately prior to the recruitment date.

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Marine Mammal Section, Risø, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.

EU eligibility requirements in Marie Curie Doctoral Networks:

• Supported researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis, but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible.
• Researchers must be enrolled in a doctoral programme leading to the award of a doctoral degree in at least one EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, and for Joint Doctorates in at least two.
• Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.
• Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays and time spent by the researcher as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention75 are not considered.
• Secondments are eligible for up to one third of the actual months spent implementing the research training activities under the action.
• In case of industrial doctorates, doctoral candidates must spend at least 50% of their fellowship duration in the non-academic sector.’

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

• Fredrik Christiansen, f.christiansen@ecos.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 10 April 2026 23:59 CEST. 

Preferred starting date is 01 September 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.