PhD fellowship in Aarhus, Denmark
Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship the Graduate School of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Animal Science programme. The position is available from 1 August 2019 or later.
Title:
Feeding Strategies to Reducing Enteric Methane from Dairy Cows
Research area and project description:
Enteric fermentation in ruminants results in a significant production of methane which not only constitutes a significant part of the carbon footprint of dairy and beef production, but also represents a significant loss of energy. The ruminant sector thereby contributes substantially to the total agricultural greenhouse gas emission in Denmark. This calls for not only the development of mitigation strategies to reduce enteric methane, but also a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms in the rumen related to methane production. This project will focus on quantifying enteric methane using respiration chambers, identifying mitigation strategies primarily related to feeding, and quantifying animal variation in response to a given feeding strategy aiming at reducing enteric methane. The project will include digestibility trails using rumen and intestinally cannulated dairy cows and statistical analysis of data from different types of experiments.
This project will have an important impact not only in the scientific community but also among farmers and consumers, as reducing the carbon footprint of dairy production is essential for numerous private and public stakeholders.
Qualifications and specific competences:
Required:
- Relevant Master’s degree
- Excellent verbal and writing skills in English with very good communication skills
- Experience in dairy cow nutrition and physiology
Preferred:
- Experience with some of the following techniques: measuring enteric methane emission from ruminants, quantification of digestion of nutrients using marker techniques, feed evaluation, digestibility and balance trials
- Experience in statistical analysis of animal experiments
- Hands-on ruminant feeding trials
- Demonstration of research activities (conference or journal papers)
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is at the Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University-Foulum, Blichers Alle 20 , DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Please note all applications must be received no later than 1 May 2019 (Danish time).
Applying: to read more about the fellowship and to apply please click here to visit the website of Aarhus University .