Postdoctoral position (2 years) in bioinformatics - Impact of climate change on flowering and diversity of boreal forest trees - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply
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Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology
Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.
The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.
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The Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (Umeå University, Sweden) invites applicants for a postdoctoral position focused on analyzing time series of shotgun metagenomics data aiming at understanding climate impact on boreal forest trees. Application deadline is November 15th, 2019.
Project description and working tasks
Many of the keystone boreal forest trees, like Norway spruce and Scots pine, rely solely on sexual reproduction for regeneration. As climate change is expected to affect directly phenology and distribution of boreal forest species, we need to understand how flowering phenology and gene flow respond to the changes.
The project has access to a unique archive of air filters that represents an unbroken 40-year line of samples collected weekly in northern Sweden and genome-wide diversity data for both pine and spruce over their entire range. Together with publicly available genetic data as well as weather and land-use data, this project will address questions such as:
- Has the reproductive phenology of boreal tree species responded to changing climate conditions?
- To what extent do climate change influence the regularity of flowering and the relative proportion of trees involved in reproduction?
- Is long distance pollen dispersal common among tree species and has the pattern changed over time?
- Has the genetic diversity of the major tree species participating in reproduction changed over the time period as measured by sequence diversity of captured pollen?
The research will mainly include modelling and NGS data analyses. NGS analysis will mainly consist of identifying genetic variants in the air filter data (~400 samples shotgun sequenced to a depth of 200-800 million 150 bp PE reads). The postdoc will also have the freedom to contribute to other ongoing projects and to develop own projects that are aligned with the group’s interests.
The appointment is for 2 years (full-time employment). The employment is planned for a start late 2019 or early 2020.
Qualifications
A PhD degree in bioinformatics, genetics, ecology, or a related field is a demand. We seek highly motivated candidates with a broad experience in genomics and NGS data analysis as well as experience in programming and working in Linux environments. To be eligible for this fellowship, you should have completed your doctoral degree a maximum three (3) years before the end of the application period unless special circumstances exists. Good ability to co-operate is required as well as good skills in written and spoken English.
Experience with large-scale sequence analysis is a merit as well as familiarity with phylogenomic analyses, statistics, population genetics and various modelling approaches.
Application
The full application should include:
- A cover letter describing why you are interested in the project and your suitability (max. 2 pages).
- A CV, including a list of your publications
- Copies of your doctoral thesis and relevant publications (maximum 5)
- Copy of doctoral degree certificate and other relevant degree certificates.
- Names and contact details (email and phone) of three reference persons.
- Any other documents you wish to refer to.
The application, written in English (preferably) or Swedish, is made through our electronic recruitment system. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format.The closing date is November 15th, 2019.
Contact
For more information, contact Dr. Per Stenberg (per.stenberg@umu.se), Dr. Johanna Leppälä (johanna.leppala@umu.se) or Prof. Xiao-Ru Wang (xiao-ru.wang@umu.se).
For more information about our research, please visit: https://www.umu.se/en/research/groups/evolutionary-biology/
The Department of Ecology and Environmental Science (www.emg.umu.se) carries out research and postgraduate education in ecology, environmental science and physical geography. The department has about 150 employees, about 15 of whom are post-docs.
| Type of employment | Temporary position |
|---|---|
| Contract type | Full time |
| First day of employment | According to agreement |
| Salary | Monthly salary |
| Number of positions | 1 |
| Full-time equivalent | 100% |
| City | Umeå |
| County | Västerbottens län |
| Country | Sweden |
| Reference number | AN 2.2.1-1282-19 |
| Contact |
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| Union representative |
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| Published | 10.Sep.2019 |
| Last application date | 15.Nov.2019 |