Assistant Professorship in ECOLOGY

The Department of Biological Sciences at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara is inviting applications for an Assistant Professor position in terrestrial ECOLOGY, primarily working on steppe or forest ecology.

We seek researchers with a Ph.D. and postdoctoral training and a significant publication record. The successful applicants will be expected to:

- Run an independent research group, including mentoring graduate students and obtaining extramural funds,

- Initiate monitoring and experimental research on the METU campus's steppe and forest ecosystems,

- Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in their fields (the METU language of instruction is in English).

They will be provided with office and lab space and will have access to the Department's research infrastructure, such as wet labs and servers.

METU Biological Sciences hosts a vibrant research environment with 20 research groups working on diverse topics. Those include conservation biology, aquatic ecology, comparative genomics and transcriptomics, bioinformatics, cancer biology, microbiology, plant biology, and archaeogenomics.

Unique research opportunities include METU's Ecosystems Research Center, which investigates diverse ecosystems from lakes to steppes and forests in the region. The METU campus, a 3,000-hectare area including forest and steppe habitats and a 100-hectare lake, is among the Center's prime study sites.

The Department's unique facilities further include aquatic mesocosms on the lake and land with warming facilities, a fully functional aquatic ecology laboratory with a climate room as well as walk-in cold room, plant growth chambers, an ancient DNA clean room, an experimental apiary hosting >20 hives, and a greenhouse.

METU is among Turkey's top public research universities, with the largest share of national science funding. METU researchers have traditionally achieved 30% success rates in TUBITAK (Turkey's National Science Agency) grant applications, such as the regular TUBITAK 1001 scheme (providing ~100,000 euros for 3 years). METU is again Turkey's best scoring university with the highest success rates in EU-H2020 grants.

The successful candidates will have access to on-campus housing and child care. The METU campus, with its forest, steppe area, and lake, provides a wide selection of outdoor and indoor recreational sports opportunities. Foreign applicants will find it easy to integrate into the METU community, with between 5-10% of international faculty members and students.

METU provides a small-scale start-up grant, while the chosen applicants will be encouraged to apply to a wide range of national and European extramural funding sources. These include TUBITAK Start-Up Grants (2232 and 3501), Turkey's Science Academy's Young Scientist Awards (BAGEP and GEBIP), the EMBO Installation Grant, as well as ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants. The chosen applicants may also use fellowships such as Marie Curie, MSCA Widening, and the MSCA Co-Fund.

The call will be open until Jan 15, 2021. Chosen applicants will be invited to give online or on-site seminars late January and early February.

Applicants are expected to send a cover letter that includes:

(i) Cover letter,

(ii) CV,

(iii) Publication record,

(iv) Research statement,

(vi) Teaching statement (courses taught and/or proposed),

(v) Full contact information for three references.

Applications should be sent to: Meryem Beklioglu (meryem@metu.edu.tr)