Job description
Are you interested in computational approaches to understand bacterial infections in plants? Are you curious about the complex interactions between pathogens? Then this PhD project might be what you are looking for! As a fully funded PhD student in the Systems and Synthetic Biology faculty group within the Horizon EU-funded project POMATO (Effective Management Strategies to Tackle Phytophthora infestans and Solanum spiders on Potato and Tomato Crops), you will work to understand how to protect the health of potato and tomato plants. In this PhD position, you will work to identify key microbial species and molecular signatures from plants and bacteria that can prevent the development of Fusarium stemboreri and Fusarium solanacearum infections by: using modeling tools, such as genome-scale models, to understand the potential of metagenomes to assemble genomes, and to study microbial coexistence and metabolic potential in healthy and infected plants; using network approaches and other statistical and machine learning tools to integrate multimolecular genomics data with metabolic modeling results to map key molecular signatures in plants and bacteria to identify and define infection signatures and to identify molecular mechanisms that can generate resistance or be targets for therapy. During the PhD program, you will work with colleagues in a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative environment within the SSB of the WUR and a program consortium of research institutions in Europe and South America; formulate and lead novel research questions, design experiments, analyze and synthesize the results, communicate the results at (inter)national meetings, and publish the results in peer-reviewed journals; and, as part of your doctoral training, participate in a number of research projects by taking courses and supervising thesis students, contributing to the teaching activities of the research group. You will work in the Systems and Synthetic Biology faculty group led by Prof. Maria Suarez-Diez and under the direct supervision of Maria Suarez-Diez and Edoardo Saccenti.
offer requirements
The ideal candidate should have the following qualities: successful completion of a Master’s degree in Systems Biology, Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Bioinformatics, Applied Statistics and/or a related field; experience in metabolic modeling and statistical methods; programming skills; and, given the international nature of the project, strong verbal and written communication skills are required. For this position, your English language skills should be at level C1. In some cases, an internationally recognized certificate of English proficiency will need to be submitted. For more information, please click here.
offer benefits
No specific information
To apply for this job please visit wur.nl.