PhD Fellowship Molecular Ecology/Microbiology : Liege, Belgium

Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liege, Bacterial Physiology and Genetics, Cyanobacteria Group (led by Dr Annick Wilmotte, coordinator of CCAMBIO)

CCAMBIO is a collaborative project funded by BELSPO (Belgian Science Policy) that aims to study microbial communities using state-of-the-art techniques in Antarctic lakes along a wide geographic and climatic gradient. Our approach will contribute to the discovery of novel diversity and elucidate the role of the different foodweb components for the ecosystem functioning in Antarctic lakes.

The successful PhD student will work on the diversity, biogeographic zoning, evolutionary history, and genomic make-up of cyanobacteria, which are the dominant photosynthetic organisms in the microbial mat communities of Antarctic lakes, in order to assess their resilience and local and regional responses to global change. Along with traditional molecular ecology approaches, such as DGGE and molecular cloning, in depth analyses of microbial community composition using 454 next generation tagged-sequencing analysis of the rRNA genes will be performed. This approach will allow to detect less abundant taxa that are often overlooked by more traditional methods. Additionally, for a selection of taxa, multi-gene molecular phylogenies will be developed to study their evolutionary history within the Antarctic Realm (AR). This will include taxa/OTUs showing a disjunctive distribution or a wide occurrence throughout the AR, what will allow us to assess the importance of adaptive radiations and local population differentiation. Moreover, functional data of microbial communities will be obtained by a metagenomic inventory and metatranscriptome analysis, focusing especially on a lake in the SørRondane Mountains.

Tasks :
1.Study the diversity of cyanobacteria and perform the experiments described above
2.Disseminate the results by participating to congresses and writing publications
3.Participate in the daily activities of the team
4.Support the coordination of the project, including writing reports, updating the website and organizing meetings

Requirements :
1.Master degree in biology, Microbiology, Biotechnology or a related field. Specialization in microbial molecular ecology is an advantage
2.Previous experience with molecular cloning, sequencing, DGGE, DNA extraction, cultivation of microorganisms etc. Familiarity with next-generation sequencing is an asset.
3.Good background in Bioinformatics, especially the phylogenetic reconstruction
4.Capacity of initiative and practical sense for the work.
5.Aptitude to collaborate in network with the other project partners
6.Good knowledge of English (written and spoken), French is an advantage

Important remarks :
1.The position is available from 1st August
2.The position is initially funded for 1 year with a possibility of extension up to 4 years.

The interested candidates should send their CV, copy of the university diploma, academic records and a motivation letter, including contact details of 2-3 referees, to Dr Annick Wilmotte (awilmotte@ulg.ac.be). The deadline for the application is July 31st.

Deadline : 31.07.12