We’re hiring again!

A new one-year position to join the lab in sunny Sicily has just been officially advertised. The position is funded by RECLAIM, an Interreg VI-A Italia–Malta project on the monitoring and management of invasive alien species, and it is hosted at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Catania.

The call (in Italian, sorry!) and the application procedure are available at https://www.unict.it/it/bandi/ricerca/borsa-di-ricerca?k=9917 . Please note that applications must not be sent to me — they are accepted only through the official online procedure described in the call. Please follow the instructions carefully, as formally incorrect applications are not uncommonly discarded by the administration processing the documents. I am, however, available for more information (see also below).

Deadline for applications: 12:00 (Italian time), 3 August 2026 

What the position is about

The successful candidate will contribute to the RECLAIM work package on the monitoring and characterization of invasive alien species (WP3), with a focus on:

• Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding — developing and applying a protocol to analyse water samples and detect invasive alien species without direct observation: field sampling, filtration, nucleic-acid extraction, amplification, library preparation and bioinformatic analysis.
• Morphometrics and 3D data — acquiring morphometric data and 3D scans / reconstructions (photogrammetry) on selected species, to enrich the project’s database of invasive animals and support outreach.
• Contributing to the invasive-species database and to reports, outreach material and scientific publications.

Candidates are not expected to arrive with experience in all of these areas: prior experience in one or more of them is enough, and the relative weight the successful candidate gives to the different activities will depend on their own background, strengths and inclinations.

Notice also that, while in the position it will be possible to further collaborate with the PI and develop research in various directions.

Profile of candidates sought

The search is deliberately broad. Formally, the admission requirement is a MSc / laurea magistrale in Biology (LM-6), Natural Sciences (LM-60), Environmental Sciences and Technologies (LM-75), Veterinary Medicine (LM-42), or an equivalent qualification.

Demonstrable experience in one or more of the following will strengthen an application: eDNA / metabarcoding; molecular-biology lab techniques (nucleic-acid extraction, PCR, library prep for sequencing); analysis of genomic / metagenomic / NGS data; geometric morphometrics and/or 3D scanning / photogrammetry; bioinformatics and multivariate statistics of high-dimensional data; scripting/programming (e.g. in R) and use of computing resources (clusters / HPC); the study of invasive alien species and/or biodiversity monitoring; scientific publications in respectable (ideally high-impact) international journals; and a good command of English. A PhD in a relevant field is valued. In principle anyone with a MSc can apply, but candidates without a PhD are less likely to be competitive unless this is offset by, e.g., a strong publication record.

Appointment, remuneration and selection

The appointment is an Italian “borsa di ricerca” (research fellowship), 12 months, for a total of €24,000 gross (inclusive of the charges borne by the administration). Selection is by qualifications and interview (“per titoli e colloquio”): out of 100 points, 40 go to qualifications/CV and 60 to the interview. Candidates admitted after the evaluation of qualifications are called to an interview (in person or remote), whose date and modalities are published on the Department website at least 10 working days in advance.

Why Sicily?

Catania sits between Mt Etna and the Mediterranean, with a mild, sunny climate and a comparatively low cost of living — a monthly fellowship stretches considerably further here than in most of Europe. Add a rich cultural and culinary environment, easy access to the sea and mountains, and it makes for a genuinely enjoyable place to spend a year doing research on interesting topics (please, also explore the lab website to get an idea of the range of topics we work on).

Want to know more?

If you have read this brief explanation and you still have questions, feel free to write me using the contact form on this website (or my institutional email, see the footer of the page on how to reconstruct the address). I will do my best to address your questions while still conforming to the role I have in the process.

Disclaimer

This brief explanation serves the only purpose of describing the position to potential candidates who may not be familiar with the Italian system. Please, notice that this may result in an oversimplification of the procedures and that, in any case, the only legal/correct document will be the official call (as well as any laws it may refer to, of course).