Postdoctoral position (2 years) within plant molecular biology

A postdoctoral position is available at the Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre (www.upsc.se): a stimulating research environment at Umeå University. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate to work within the project “Elucidating the link between metabolic status and the epigenome”. The employment is full-time and is limited to 24 months but with the possibility for an extension of one more year. Starting date during spring of 2023 or according to agreement.

Project description

The establishment of photosynthetic activity drives a cellular shift from requiring external energy sources for growth and development to becoming a supplier of energy to support growth of new developing tissues. In eukaryotic cells changes to intracellular metabolism confer widespread variations in epigenetic pattern. However, the challenge is to understand how fluctuations in metabolic state control chromatin modifications. We will address this question by investigating the dynamics of global chromatin organization in response to the establishment of photosynthesis, a process that causes major changes to the cellular metabolic activity. The postdoctoral fellow will be involved in a large project where we determine the distribution of important modifications of histone H3 and identify the proteins such as transcription factors or chromatin remodellers associated with those specific modifications. 

Qualifications

To be appointed under the postdoctoral agreement, the postdoctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree. This qualification requirements must be fulfilled no later than at the time of the appointment decision.

To be appointed under the postdoctoral agreement, priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree prior to that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organisations, military service, or similar circumstances, as well as clinical practice or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area. Such circumstances should be clearly stated in the application.

The doctoral degree should be in molecular biology or biochemistry.

An ability to work independently as well as in a team, and good skills in the English language, are essential. The candidate should also have extensive laboratory experience with molecular and biochemical methods. Experience of ChIP sequencing is a merit. Experience with plants and plant cell lines as experimental systems is a merit. 

Application

The application should contain

• A personal letter that describes your qualifications, experiences, scientific interests, and motivation for application (max 2 pages)
• CV with full publication list
• Certified copies of doctoral degree certificate or equivalent, or documentation that clarifies when the degree of doctor is expected to be obtained,
• Other relevant degree certificates and grades,
• Other documents wished to be claimed.

You apply via our e-recruitment system. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format. Apply by pressing the button at the bottom of the page. Last application date is 2023-01-23.

Contact

If you have any questions, please contact Professor Åsa Strand: asa.strand@umu.