Vacant position for an animal technician in the zebrafish facility at The Department of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences (SUND) at the University of Copenhagen

A position for a highly motivated full-time animal technician is available in the new zebrafish facility at The Department of Experimental Medicine at the University of Copenhagen. The position is available from June 2015 (37 hour work week and weekend shift every sixth week).

The zebrafish facility is in its establishment phase - the premises are just being refurbished and the equipment is to be installed during June. The facility will consist of 16 racks with tanks (around 1000 tanks in total) and 2 feeding robots. A doubling of the capacity for zebrafish is planned within the next 3-5 years. Establishment of scientific services is anticipated within the next 1-2 years.

Work tasks and responsibilities

The primary tasks in the position are animal care and husbandry, equipment and water testing and technical support.

Animal care and husbandry of zebrafish:

• Feeding (preparing artemia, deciding feeding regime according to size and age, programming of robot)
• Daily monitoring of animal health and if necessary initiate appropriate actions

Equipment and water testing:

• Daily and weekly checks of water parameters
• Maintenance tasks of the water treatment system
• Cleaning, washing and disinfection of tanks and other equipment
• Overseeing technical installations, including maintenance, monitoring and contact with  relevant technical persons (AEM staff or external supplier) when necessary

Responsibilities in support and communication:

• Timely communication (meetings, e-mails) with researchers about their animals and experiments
• Assisting the researchers on request with different tasks (setting up breeding, isolating and incubating embryos, fin clipping etc.)
• Ordering of supplies and other administrative tasks

You will also participate in starting up the aquatic facility including implementation of the equipment, establishment of the zebrafish lines and determining the content in relevant Standard Operation Procedures and in training of new staff and colleagues who will work in the facility as back-up

Qualifications

Candidates must have completed the animal caretaker education with the optional special subjects keeping of experimental animals and laboratory animal technique and can document knowledge about fish used in the procedures concerned. Or in other ways have obtained qualifications which, with respect to care for animals, correspond to completion of the animal caretaker education and can document knowledge about the relevant species that you will be responsible for the husbandry of.

In addition we are looking for a candidate that meets the following requirements:

• In-depth experience with the care and husbandry of zebrafish and other aquatic species obtained in national or international research facilities
• Ability to take on responsibility for husbandry tasks and showing initiative in improving and developing work routines related to zebrafish welfare
• You are responsible, take initiative and can structure your work
• Service minded and collaborative attitude, as you will be working closely with researchers using the facility
• Willingness to learn how to handle other laboratory animals, as your weekend shifts will include monitoring and possibly also procedures in other laboratory animals
• No rodent allergy and no rodent contact outside working hours
• Technical skills, you are expected to handle and operate technically advanced equipment
• Good communication skills (capable of communicating with academics, animal staff, engineers etc.)
• A good robust physical health
• Ability to communicate in basic English and Danish (orally and in writing; or willing to learn Danish)
• Experienced user of Microsoft Office tools
• A structured approach to your tasks and ability to document and follow up on work tasks

Employment Conditions

Employment will be in accordance with the provisions of the collective agreement between the Danish Government and 3F. The position will be at the contractual level of salary with the possibility to negotiate a salary supplement.

Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘APPLY NOW’ below or via this advertisement found on http://employment.ku.dk/, no later than May 17^th 2015. Both applications in English and Danish will be accepted. The interviews will be held in either Danish or English dependent on the applicant’s preferences. The application must include a cover letter, a Curriculum Vitae and a diploma.
For questions regarding the position please contact operations Manager Janne Koch at jako@sund.ku.dk.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

The Department of Experimental Medicine is an academic unit under The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and The University Hospital. The Department is also a joint service unit managing the laboratory animal facilities and the animal care and use program of the University of Copenhagen and the University Hospital. The Department offers qualified technical and veterinary assistance and consultancy regarding experimental animal research. The Department also offers a comprehensive range of courses for technicians and students, as well as academics.