id: NDk2MjU0OSA3

reference: 4962549

documentId: 4962549

connectionPointId: 7

lastModificationDate: 1553178672716

stillingsbetegnelse: PhD fellowship in Plant Metabolic Plasticity

jobbeskrivelse:
PhD fellowship in Plant Metabolic Plasticity
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Faculty of Science
University of Copenhagen

A 3-year PhD fellowship is available at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PLEN), Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The fellowship will commence 15 June, 2019, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Scientific environment
The Plant Metabolic Plasticity Group (https://plen.ku.dk/english/research/plant_biochemistry/plant-metabolic-plasticity/) is led by Associate Professor Nanna Bjarnholt. The group works with specialized metabolites, also known as secondary metabolites or natural products, involved in plant defense, communication and stress response. Such compounds are traditionally viewed as end products with a single physiological function. We challenge this view and uncover metabolic grids allowing plants to fine-tune their allocation of resources between molecules of different functions according to their physiological state or in response to environmental challenges. The group is part of the Section for Plant Biochemistry (https://plen.ku.dk/english/research/plant_biochemistry/) at PLEN, where key technologies and instrumentation utilized in the group (metabolite profiling by LC- and GC-MS, Mass Spectrometry Imaging, molecular cloning and enzyme characterization in vitro and in planta) are established and accessible.

Project abstractJV_description
The fellowship will be part of a 5-year research project with the abstractJV_title ’Glutathione transferases in plant specialized metabolism’ (GSTspecial), awarded by the VILLUM Foundation to Associate Professor Nanna Bjarnholt. The glutathione transferases (GSTs) form a mysterious group of enzymes in plants, with many members in each species, several plant specific classes and very few assigned physiological functions. An increasing body of evidence suggests that a significant number of plant GSTs play roles in specialized metabolism. The project GSTspecial aims at elucidating such functions using a ‘guilt-by-association’ approach where the tissue and cell-specific localization of proposed GST substrates and products will be mapped using Mass Spectrometry Imaging. These results will be used to guide tissue and single cell type resolved transcriptomics experiments to identify gene candidates for characterization in vitro and in planta. The PhD fellow will join the project at a time where we are ready to clone and express the first candidate genes from the tropical crop plant sorghum. The downstream work will involve enzyme assays, and metabolite and plant characterization using metabolite profiling and Mass Spectrometry Imaging. In parallel, we will characterize other plants to identify possible targets for discovery of GST functions.

Principal supervisor is Associate Professor Nanna Bjarnholt, and a post doc employed on the GSTspecial project (Huijun Liu) will be co-supervisor.

Job abstractJV_description
The position is available for a 3-year period and your key tasks as a PhD student at SCIENCE and the Section for Plant Biochemistry are to:

• Manage and carry through your research project by independently designing, executing and critically analyzing experiments under supervision
• Draft and submit research articles to peer-reviewed journals
• Present and discuss scientific data within the research group and the Section
• Attend PhD courses
• To stay at an external research institution for a few months, preferably abroad.
• Write and submit a high-quality PhD thesis
• Teach and supervise BSc and MSc students at courses and projects
• Disseminate your research results at conferences etc.
• Participate in Departmental and Section activities
• Execute GLP and ensure safety

Formal requirements and assessment criteria
Applicants should hold an MSc degree in biochemistry, biology or biotechnology or related fields with good grades and should have good English skills. In the assessment, we will focus on the perceived research potential of the applicant, the relevance of previous experience and the candidate’s personal qualifications. In addition to the formal requirements, relevant qualifications may include, but are not limited to:

• A strong interest in the research questions addressed by the group and the research project
• Experience with plant work, GSTs, analytical chemistry, molecular cloning and/or enzyme work
• Well-developed collaborative skills
• Motivation to contribute to a positive, open minded and productive working environment
• Documented research output, such as peer-reviewed publications

Terms of employment
The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

The starting salary is currently at a minimum DKK 322,642 (approx. €43,015) including annual supplement (+ pension up to DKK 44,567). Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

Application Procedure
The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include

• Cover Letter detailing your motivation and background for applying for this specific PhD project
• CV
• Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc and MSc)
• Other information for consideration, e.g. list of publications (if any)
• Full contact details (Name, address, telephone & email) of 1-3 professional referees

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

The deadline for applications is 10 April 2019, 23:59 GMT+2

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee. Afterwards an assessment committee will be appointed to evaluate the selected applications. The applicants will be notified of the composition of the committee and the final selection of a successful candidate will be made by the Head of Department, based on the recommendations of the assessment committee and the interview committee.

The main criterion for selection will be the research potential of the applicant and the above mentioned skills. The successful candidate will then be requested to formally apply for enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD school of Science. You can read more about the recruitment process at http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD scholarship, please contact the principal supervisor Associate Professor Nanna Bjarnholt, PLEN, via e-mail: nnb (at) plen.ku.dk (entire advertisement period), or direct phone: +45 3533 1136 (only after 31 March 2019).

General information about PhD programmes at SCIENCE is available at hhttp://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/ttp://www.science.ku.dk/phd.




numberOfPosts: 1

jobCategoriesCodes_0: http://data.europa.eu/esco/isco/C2310

abstractJV_contact_0:
Send ansøgning på en af de angivne kommunikationskanaler

positionTypeCode: directhire

contractTypeCodes_0: fulltime

Arbejdsgiver Navn: KU - SCIENCE - PLEN

source: DK-STAR