Computational PhD position in Modeling decision making in plant root nutrient foraging (1.0 FTE)

Computational PhD position in Modeling decision making in plant root nutrient foraging (1.0 FTE)

Job description

Project overview
As sessile organisms, for their survival plants need to adapt to the environmental conditions they find themselves in. For this plants sense their environment, integrate this information and next “compute” where to best invest in growth. With regards to soil nutrients plants have been shown to optimize their acquisition while minimizing costs through stimulating root growth where nutrient levels are high while repressing growth where nutrients are low. Exactly how this works, particularly considering that the key plant nutrients nitrate and phosphate show disparate spatial distributions in natural soil has so far remained elusive. In our team we aim to decipher how plant root foraging decision making arises from the integration of and feedbacks between local, long distance and systemic nutrients signalling processes and their effects on root developmental processes.
Computational PhD Position
For this PhD position you will work on dynamical, process-driven computational models to decipher the growth decisions underlying plant root nutrient foraging in Arabidopsis. You will work under the direct supervision of Prof. Kirsten ten Tusscher from the Computational Developmental Biology group . The computational multi-scale models developed in this project aim to reverse engineer  how different nutrient sensing, signalling and integration processes together adaptively shape root system architecture and thereby reveal the logic underlying root growth decision making. This computational project will be performed in close collaboration with a parallel experimental project, hosted in the lab of Prof Ronald Pierik from the Plant Ecophysiology group . In this experimental project (for which another PhD student is hired) we aim to map out root foraging responses by applying molecular biology, confocal microscopy and phenotyping of roots subjected to a range of combinations of nitrate and phosphate levels, providing essential data for model building and validation.
Your core tasks will include:

• co-designing, and performing the research outlined above;
• (co-)supervising MSc and BSc students in the computational biology lab;
• contributing to teaching of BSc/MSc courses;
• collaborating in an interdisciplinary team of computational and experimental  biologists;
• communicating the research through publications, conference presentations and outreach.

Qualifications

We are looking for a PhD candidate with great communication skills, who is able to work in an international and interdisciplinary team. We encourage you to apply if you:

• hold a MSc degree in Computational Biology, Applied Mathematics, Biophysics or a related field;
• have experience in mathematical, differential equation based modeling and programming;
• have affinity with or an interest to learn plant biology;
• have affinity with teaching and/or outreach;
• are organized and efficient;
• are fluent in English.

Offer

• a full time position for one year which can be extended after good evaluations with three more years;
• a full-time gross salary starting at €2,443 in year one and increasing to €3,122 in year four (scale P Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (cao));
• 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

In addition to the employment conditions laid down in the cao for Dutch Universities, Utrecht University has a number of its own arrangements. For example, there are agreements on professional development, leave arrangements and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment via the Employment Conditions Selection Model. This is how we like to encourage you to continue to grow.
More information about working at the Faculty of Science can be found here.

About the organization

The Computational Developmental Biology group of Prof Kirsten ten Tusscher focuses on the deciphering of developmental patterning processes in plants and animals. For this the group uses state-of-the-art multi-scale modeling approaches, combined with experiments. Experiments are performed in the host lab of Prof Ronald Pierik or performed by other close collaborators. Current research encompasses three major research lines:

• plant root development and adaptation to environmental conditions;
• plant water transport and resource partitioning and its effects on plant growth;
• regulatory networks controlling cell fate decisions.

The group is part of the chairgroup Theoretical Biology, and as such part of the Institute of Biodynamics and Biocomplexity (IBB) within the Biology department of the Faculty of Science.
At the Faculty of Science there are six departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes that work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects. Find out more about us .
Utrecht University is a friendly and ambitious university at the heart of an ancient city. We love to welcome new scientists to our city – a thriving cultural hub that is consistently rated as one of the world’s happiest cities. We are renowned for our innovative interdisciplinary research and our emphasis on inspirational research and excellent education. We are equally well-known for our familiar atmosphere and the can-do attitude of our people. This fundamental connection attracts researchers, professors and PhD candidates from all over the globe, making both the university and the Faculty of Science a vibrant international and wonderfully diverse community.

Additional information

If you have any questions regarding the position, please contact:
Prof. Kirsten ten Tusscher via [email protected] .
Do you have a question about the application procedure? Please send an email to [email protected] .

Apply

Everyone deserves to feel at home at our university. We welcome employees with a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives. If you have the expertise and the experience to excel in this role, then simply respond via the “Apply now” button! Please enclose:

• your letter of motivation;
• your curriculum vitae;
• the names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of at least two references.

If this specific opportunity isn’t for you, but you know someone who may be interested, please forward this vacancy to them.
Some connections are fundamental – Be one of them

The application deadline is 07/06/2022