2 year Post doc position in studies of bat & toothed whale echolocation

Job description

Are you interested in bat and toothed whale echolocation and do you want to join the newly founded Center for Active Sensing with Sound at Aarhus University?

Then the Department of Biology invites you to apply for a 2-year full time post-doctoral position starting March 1, 2026.


 

Expected start date and duration of employment

This is a 2 year position starting March 1 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Job description

You will undertake quantitative research on how echolocating bats and toothed whales use sound to hunt and navigate in complex environments.

To do so, you will use state-of-the-art biologging multi-sensor acoustic tags on bats and toothed whales in the wild and combine these data with array recordings, noise playbacks and phantom target generators on trained animals in the lab.

Specifically, you will be tasked with understanding how echolocating animals through vocal plasticity can accommodate rapidly changing and complex auditory scenes in time and space.

Your profile

Applicants must hold a PhD in bioacoustics, engineering, physics or neuroethology, or similar.



Experience with trained bats and toothed whales and handling or tagging of wild conspecifics is an advantage.

You must have a demonstrated capability to successfully disseminate your research in peer-reviewed scientific journals as first author.

You must have experience with signal processing of acoustic or high-resolution spatial movement data using your own code, and experience with quantitative acoustic analyses is an advantage.

You must have strong English skills both orally and in writing.

Who we are

The Center for Active Sensing with Sound currently consists of approximately 4 senior PIs, three post docs, two PhD students and several MSc. It is part of the larger Bioacoustics community at the Section for Zoophysiology, Department of Biology, Aarhus University.

What we offer

The Center offers:

a well-developed research infrastructure, laboratories and access to shared equipment and novel bioacoustics tags

an exciting interdisciplinary environment with many national and international collaborators

a research climate encouraging lively, open and critical discussion within and across different fields of research

a work environment with close working relationships, networking and social activities

a workplace characterised by professionalism, equality and a healthy work-life balance.

Place of work and area of employment

The place of work is Mollers Alle 3, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.

Contact information

For further information, please contact: Professor Peter T.

Madsen, +45 5177 8771, .

Deadline

Applications must be received no later than 31 October 2025.

Application procedure

Shortlisting is used.

This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the appointment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated.

All applicants will be notified whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation.

The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each applicant is given the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that concerns him/her self.

Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.

Letter of reference

If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application.

We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.

If you wish to add a referee after you have submitted your application, you must send this person’s details (name, job title, place of work, and email address) as well as the name of the position you have applied for to:

Formalities and salary range

Natural Sciences refers to the .

The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any).

Guidelines for applicants can be found

Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the .



Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Associations.

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.

Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time.

Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners.

Read more .

Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark .

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU.

You can read more about it .

At the Faculty of Natural Science at Aarhus University, we strive to support our scientific staff in their career development.

We focus on competency development and career clarification and want to make your opportunities transparent.

On , you can find information on all types of scientific positions, as well as the entry criteria we use when assessing candidates.

You can also read more about how we can assist you in your career planning and development.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Required Skill Profession

Life Scientists