PhD fellowship in microbial interactions

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Section for Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology, invites applicants for a PhD fellowship in microbial interactions. The project is part of the Novo Nordisk funded research project INTERACT www.interact.ku.dk .

Start date is 15 October 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The project
To fully exploit the potential of plant-microbe interactions, currently being proposed as a fundamental part of the green solutions for sustainable agricultural production, a much deeper understanding of the complex and often transient interactions in the rhizosphere environment is needed. Our goal is to detangle these interactions down to the molecular level, and understand them in an ecologically relevant scenario. The knowledge will feed into an establishment of predictive models on plant performance under diverse environmental conditions.

We are seeking a highly motivated microbiologist who is enthusiastic about the opportunity to develop his/her skills in an international research environment, where different disciplines work closely together to obtain a holistic understanding of microbe-plant interactions in the soil environment.

The specific PhD project will aim to investigate how microbe-microbe interactions, competition, and antagonism impact rhizosphere assembly, holobiont functioning, and plant-growth promoting gene expression in the rhizosphere, using simplified consortia, amplicon sequencing, bioreporters, transcriptomics, LC-MS/IMS. It will further identify specific bacterial gene clusters and metabolites that impact rhizosphere assembly and function, using mutant knock-out strains.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for creative, highly motivated candidates within the field of microbiology, environmental biotechnology, or microbial genomics with the following competences:

• Experience in isolation & culturing of bacterial libraries
• Experience in high throughput in vitro assay development and execution for use on large bacterial strain collections
• Experience in amplicon sequencing for bacterial identification and community analysis
• Experience in comparative genomics for secondary metabolite production based on full genome sequencing
• Experience in programming in Python & R
• Experience with microscopy
• Excellent writing and spoken English

Our group and research- and what do we offer?
The position will be anchored in the Microbial Interactions Research Group https://plen.ku.dk/english/research/microbial-ecology-and-biotechnology/mi/ . The group is a part of Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. We are located at Frederiksberg Campus in Copenhagen.

We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories enabling work from the molecular scale to plant-soil community studies.

Principal supervisor isAssociate Professor Mette Haubjerg Nicolaisen, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Section for Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology. E-mail: [email protected] . Phone: +45 3533 2649.

Qualifications needed for the regular PhD programme
To be eligible for the regular PhD programme, you must have completed a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc + 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc) related to the subject area of the project, e.g. microbial ecology, biotechnology or environmental microbiology. For information of eligibility of completed programmes, see General assessments for specific countries and Assessment database .

Terms of employment
Employment as PhD fellow is full time and for maximum 3 years.

Employment is conditional upon your successful enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD School at the Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

The terms of employment and salary are in accordance to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State (AC). The position is covered by the Protocol on Job Structure.

Salary range starts at DKK 27,788.70 per month incl. PhD supplement (1 April 2021 level).

Responsibilities and tasks in the PhD programme

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision
• Complete PhD courses corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS / ½ FTE
• Carry out dissemination and teaching activities
• Participate in active research environments, including a stay at another research institution, preferably abroad
• Teaching and knowledge dissemination activities
• Write scientific papers aimed at high-impact journals
• Write and defend a PhD thesis on the basis of your project

We are looking for the following qualifications:

• The grade point average achieved
• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
• Relevant publications
• Relevant work experience
• Other relevant professional activities
• Curious mind-set with a strong interest in microbial interactions at the molecular level
• Language skills

Application and Assessment Procedure
Your application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include: 

Application deadline
The deadline for applications is August 1st, 2021, 23:59 GMT+2.

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After deadline, a number of applicants will be selected for academic assessment by an unbiased expert assessor. You are notified, whether you will be passed for assessment.

The assessor will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above mentioned research area, techniques, skills and other requirements. The assessor will conclude whether each applicant is qualified and, if so, for which of the two models. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment. You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/ .

Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in week 32.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.

General information about PhD study at the Faculty of SCIENCE is available at the PhD School’s website: https://science.ku.dk/phd/ .

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.