E-2153 - POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN MOLECULAR ENTOMOLOGY / PLANT PATHOLOGY

Are you passionate about research? So are we! Come and join us?

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) active in the fields of materials, environment and IT. By transforming scientific knowledge into technologies, smart data and tools, LIST empowers citizens in their choices, public authorities in their decisions and businesses in their strategies. 

https://www.list.lu/

You ‘d like to contribute as a researcher? Join our Environmental Research and Innovation department 

The Environmental Research and Innovation (ERIN) department, made up of 200 life science, environmental science and information technology researchers and engineers, provides the interdisciplinary knowledge, expertise and technologies to lead solutions including the major environmental challenges facing society, such as climate change mitigation, ecosystem resilience, sustainable energy systems, efficient use of renewable resources, and environmental pollution prevention and control.

Within the ERIN department, the ‘Environmental Sensing and Modelling’ (ENVISION) unit is carrying out impact-driven research, geared towards monitoring, forecasting and predicting environmental systems in a changing world. An interdisciplinary team of around 50 scientists, engineers, post-docs and PhD candidates is developing new environmental process understanding, alongside new tools and technologies – operating at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales. Embedded into the ENVISION unit, the ‘Agro-environmental Systems’ (AGRO) research group has its focus set on agriculture in a changing environment. Agronomists, entomologists, plant pathologists, climatologists and soil microbiologists apply interdisciplinary approaches geared towards more efficient and sustainable crop production in the challenging context of global change. Within the conceptual framework of Climate Smart Agriculture, the major deliverables of the AGRO group consist in policy support and decision support tools for public services and farmers. We rely on a holistic approach for investigating the bio-geophysical functioning of agro-environmental systems. Our goal is to better understand and develop novel management strategies and technologies that reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture in a context of increasing societal demands and climate change. We deliver policy support and decision support tools for farmers to meet the challenges of a sustainable agriculture.

How will you contribute?

Your role

We are looking for a postdoctoral molecular entomologist / plant pathologist who will contribute to an already granted H2020 project “VIRTIGATION” in which 25 partner organisations (Universities, Research Centres, agricultural extension services and companies) from Europe, Morocco, Israel and India are included. The project aims at studying the molecular aspects underlying the response of plants to whitefly transmitted viruses of the genus Begomovirus, under climate change effects.

In this position you will:

• Be responsible for setting up and maintaining plant and insect cultures, including sample preparation.
• Analyse the effect of climate change on Begomovirus (especially ToLCNDV) biology, as well as on the transmission patterns by vector insects and their efficiency, by performing climate chamber experiments under strict quarantine conditions.
• Extract DNA from infested plant material, as well as from insect primary glands/midgut/haemolymph.
• Perform gene expression analysis using both a targeted (qPCR) and untargeted approach (RNA-Seq).
• Perform statistical analyses and interpretation of the data sets.
• Work as part of a scientific team and participate in team and project meetings.
• Contribute to the organisation of meetings, monitor the advancement of the tasks, ensure the achievement of deliverables/milestones, write reports and scientific publications, as well as contribute to the creation of intellectual property (patents, licences, etc.).