18-24 months job offer - Research assistant

JOB OFFER – Research Assistant. Tropical Field Ecology, Molecular Ecology and Biodiversity Data Integration

The Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC, Madrid, Spain) is seeking a highly motivated and exceptionally versatile Research Assistant to join the recently funded Spanish National Plan project NEOSHORTFALLS (“Addressing biodiversity shortfalls in Neotropical hyperdiverse forests to improve our understanding of the effects of defaunation on phenotypic traits, species assemblages and biotic interactions”).

The successful candidate will become a key member of an international research team investigating how defaunation reshapes biodiversity, ecological interactions and ecosystem functioning across Amazonian forests. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research at the interface of tropical ecology, molecular ecology, biodiversity informatics and ecological network science.

• Starting date: Nov. 2026
• Duration: 18-24 months (M3-M2 CSIC scale)
• Annual Gross Salary: €27000/year (M2) - €32600/year (M3).
• Location: Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain with annual 3-month fieldwork campaigns in Western Amazonia, Brazil.

Background

Defaunation is rapidly transforming tropical forests worldwide by altering species composition, ecological interactions and ecosystem functioning. Yet, our ability to understand these processes remains limited by major biodiversity knowledge gaps, particularly regarding species interactions.

The NEOSHORTFALLS project aims to overcome these biodiversity shortfalls by integrating multiple complementary approaches, including canopy camera trapping, environmental DNA (eDNA), functional trait measurements, artificial intelligence and
ecological network analyses to understand how plant–frugivore interactions reorganize under increasing hunting pressure in Amazonian forests.

The project is coordinated by Dr. Ana Benítez-López and Dr. Lisieux Fuzessy at the Department of Biogeography and Global Change (MNCN-CSIC), in collaboration with an international network of researchers from Europe and Brazil.

About the position

We are looking for a highly organized, proactive and adaptable person who enjoys working across disciplines and is comfortable moving between tropical fieldwork, molecular laboratory activities and biodiversity data management.

The Research Assistant will play a central role throughout the project, supporting every stage of the research pipeline—from collecting samples in remote Amazonian forests to processing molecular samples, curating biodiversity datasets and preparing data for ecological analyses.

This is an ideal position for someone who enjoys combining practical fieldwork with laboratory techniques and computational data management.

Tasks and Responsibilities

Tropical Fieldwork: The successful candidate will participate in large-scale field campaigns in the Brazilian
Amazon in liaison with the NGO Instituto Juruá, and will assist with:

• establishing and reopening forest transects;
• deploying, rotating and retrieving canopy and ground camera traps;
• collecting environmental DNA (rainwash eDNA) samples;
• collecting trace DNA (fruit swabs);
• collecting botanical samples for herbarium preparation;
• collecting fruits, leaves and seeds for functional trait measurements;
• recording field metadata and maintaining sampling protocols;
• organizing and maintaining field equipment;
• coordinating daily field logistics together with local field assistants.

Molecular Ecology: The Research Assistant will support laboratory activities including:

• DNA extraction from environmental samples;
• sample preparation for metabarcoding;
• PCR and library preparation;
• organization of molecular laboratory workflows;
• preparation and shipment of sequencing samples;
• quality control of molecular datasets;
• Laboratory inventory and consumables management.

Biodiversity Data Management: the successful candidate will be responsible for:

• organizing and archiving camera-trap videos;
• processing videos using AI-assisted workflows (MegaDetector/TropiCam-AI);
• manual annotation of videos using Timelapse software;
• species identification and behavioural annotation;
• metadata organization following FAIR principles;
• preparation of datasets for public repositories (e.g. GBIF, Agouti, PlantNet).

Project Support: The successful candidate will also:

• coordinate equipment purchases and inventories;
• participate in weekly lab meetings and project meetings;
• contribute to outreach and dissemination activities;
• contribute to manuscript preparation and scientific publications.

Qualifications and experience

Applicants should have:

• BSc or MSc degree in Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Conservation Biology, Environmental Sciences or related disciplines
• Excellent organizational skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of an international team
• Strong attention to detail
• Meticulous in laboratory and data management tasks
• Willingness to spend extended periods working under remote and harsh tropical field conditions
• Comfortable solving unexpected logistical problems
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Ability to work as part of a diverse team with different cultural backgrounds and experiences
• Good communication skills (both written and oral) in English.
• Good communication skills in either Spanish or Portuguese, with a willingness to improve their communication skills in the other language.

Previous experience with one or more of the following will be highly valued:

• Field ecology, preferably in harsh environments such as the tropics
• Canopy or terrestrial camera trapping
• Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling
• DNA extraction and molecular laboratory techniques
• Management of biodiversity databases
• R programming
• Scientific data management

We Offer

The successful candidate will join a dynamic and highly international research environment at MNCN-CSIC. Specifically, they will be part of a joint research group consisting of two PIs, 5 PhD students (two inhouse, two abroad, plus 1 FPI to be hired for the project), 1-2 MSc or JAE-Intro students. Fieldwork activities will be carried in teams of 3-5 people. Besides that, the Research Assistant will receive advanced training in:

• one of the largest plant-frugivore interaction databases worldwide;
• long-term Amazonian datasets;
• canopy camera-trap networks;
• environmental DNA sampling and analysis;
• functional traits;
• artificial intelligence tools for biodiversity research;
• an extensive international collaboration network across Europe and South America.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply by sending before 15 September 2026:

• Curriculum Vitae (maximum 4 pages)
• One-page motivation letter
• Contact details of two academic referees
• Your BSc or MSc thesis (pdf).

to:

• Ana Benítez-López: ana.benitez@mncn.csic.es
• Lisieux Fuzessy: lisieux.fuzessy@mncn.csic.es
• Subject: Name, last name and NEOSHORTFALLS-RA

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview (in person or online). The selected candidate will need to register in the “Bolsa de Trabajo CSIC” to be eligible for the post. Foreigners will need to translate (“traducción jurada”) and apply for the equivalency of their academic titles before registering in the Bolsa. If you have any questions about the post please contact us through email.

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