Post-Doctoral Researcher, APC Microbiome Ireland

2 Years, Fixed-term, Whole-time post

Position summary

We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic Post-Doctoral Researcher to work on a new project investigating the role of bacteriophages in horizontal gene transfer in the human gut microbiome. The project will involve an array of approaches, including long-read high-throughput sequencing, faecal chemostat models, random transposon insertion libraries in gut bacteria and animal colonisation models. The role requires an exceptional knowledge and skill set spanning anaerobic bacteriology, bacteriophage biology, bacterial genetics and microbiome science. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101001684).

APC Microbiome Ireland was formed in 2003 and since then it has established itself as one of the leading global centres in gut microbiota research. The centre has made several landmark discoveries and has published over 3,500 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, generating many journal covers and associated editorials. The APC is a lively trans-disciplinary environment with clinicians, clinician-scientists and basic scientists from diverse backgrounds working in teams, sharing ideas and resources.

UCC is an accredited research organisation and as such can form hosting agreements with third country nationals (and non-EEA nationals) for the purpose of conducting research in the University.

The ideal candidate for this position should have:

• Excellent knowledge of anaerobic bacteriology techniques. Experience with isolation and characterisation of strictly anaerobic bacteria.
• Excellent knowledge of molecular cloning techniques. Experience with/understanding of transposon-mediated insertional mutagenesis techniques.
• Experience with isolation, propagation and characterisation of bacteriophages.
• Deep understanding of modern microbiome analysis principles: metagenomics, viromics, culturomics, next-generation sequencing techniques.
• Proven ability to conduct independent research.
• Basic bininformatics literacy (UNIX/Linux systems, shell scripting, R environment, visualisations) is highly desirable.
• Experience with in vitro, in vivo, or ex vivo models of phage-bacteria interaction is desirable but not essential.

Project Title: PHAGENET: PHAge GEnetic NETworking in the microbiome

Post Duration: 2 years (with possibility of extension to up to 3 years)

Salary: €39,522 - €46,906 p.a. (IUA Salary Scale)

For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/  JOB ID: 057252

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Prof Andrey Shkoporov, School of Microbiology & APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork; Tel: + 353 (0) 21 490 1771; Email: andrey.shkoporov@ucc.ie