RESEARCH ASSISTANT position: Experimental Ecosystem Recovery Dynamics

About the Position

The Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) is offering a Research Assistant position: Experimental Ecosystem Recovery Dynamics. The successful candidate will contribute to understanding ecosystem recovery dynamics and their responses to climate change using experimental grassland communities. This position provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in ecological research, data analysis, and scientific publication.

The selected candidate will work under the direct supervision of Dr. Daniel Montoya.

Ecological restoration has emerged as the main strategy to stem the biodiversity crisis and repair damaged ecosystems. Despite substantial progress on the number of restoration studies and datasets, there is a fundamental gap in our understanding and prediction of the patterns and mechanisms underlying ecological restoration and how they are altered by global change. In this context, this project aims to further our understanding on ecosystem recovery dynamics and their response to climate change (temperature change). To do so, we used a fully-factorial experiment where grassland communities were subjected to perturbation and warming. Several variables describing the diversity, community structure, and functioning of these communities were measured during two years, before and after the application of treatments.

Responsibilities

• Analyse and visualize data
• Contribute to research activities: Support various aspects of the project’s research endeavours
• Write manuscripts and disseminate results
• Help train and mentor other team members if necessary

Requirements

• Strong analytical skills, good knowledge of statistics, and programming experience
• Degree in Ecology or similar
• Excellent written and oral command of English
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to work collaboratively

We Offer

• Interdisciplinary and inspiring work environment
• Quiet and spacious workspaces
• Possibility of participating in internal training and academic activities of the center
• 35-hour work week
• 30 days of vacation per year

Term of Contract

The position is offered for the period from January 2026 to June 2026.

Salary

The position will carry a competitive salary, matching the academic and professional profile of the applicant, and excellent work conditions.

Location

Basque Centre for Climate Change, Leioa, Spain.

As an HR Excellence awarded institution, BC3 is committed to conciliating research-academic requirements and family duties. BC3 is particularly concerned with creating equal opportunities for people independently of gender, culture, and race. Anyone with relevant qualifications is therefore strongly encouraged to apply for the position.

Application Procedure

Fill the form below and upload one PDF document with the following information:

1. One-page Motivation letter.
2. Curriculum Vitae (including contact details of two referees).

Deadline

7 December 2025

Informal enquiries can be made to Prof Daniel Montoya ([email protected]) noting in the subject of the message “RESEARCH ASSISTANT”.

Please consider that only applications sent through the form included at the bottom of the BC3 web page will be considered (https://info.bc3research.org/job-offers/).

Este contrato está financiado por la Ayuda RYC2020-028780-I financiada por MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 y por El FSE invierte en tu futuro