Job Description
We are seeking a skilled and passionate quantitative microbiologist for a fully-funded PhD opportunity that spans 4 years. The candidate selected for this project will have joint supervision from Prof. Rampal Etienne (Theoretical and Evolutionary Community Ecology), Dr. Marjon de Vos (Experimental Microbial Ecology and Evolution), and Prof. Marnix Medema (Wageningen University, Bioinformatics).
PhD students will benefit from first-rate training via innovative research projects, advanced coursework, and professional development opportunities. They will also attend workshops on research methodologies, transferrable skills, and pedagogy. As a PhD candidate, you will be responsible for conducting autonomous and innovative scientific research, publishing and presenting your findings in international venues, and submitting a PhD dissertation within a 4-year timeframe.
Project Summary
The doctoral opportunity is a component of the ENW-XL consortium project called 'Urinary Tract Infections Revisited: Microbial Eco-evolutionary Drivers and Regulators' (UTIR). The UTIR initiative involves a team of clinical microbiologists, infectious disease experts, bioinformaticians, modelers, chemists, and eco-evolutionary microbiologists who will collaborate on the project. They will employ a variety of in vivo measurements and in vitro reductionist bottom-up experiments to discover the microbial evolutionary tactics and explore why an established urinary microbiome becomes imbalanced, leading to recurrent urinary tract infections.
The research will entail a combination of microbial growth experiments, theoretical modeling, molecular biology, and bioinformatic sequence and data analysis.
Qualifications
Specific requirements: MSc with specialization in microbiology, ecology or evolution, theoretical modelling, quantitative biology, skills in data management and analysis, and statistics.
In addition to specific qualifications outlined above, the candidate has a good command of English (oral and written), is a team-worker, is highly motivated to work within the field of microbial ecology and evolution at the interface with medicine within an interdisciplinary consortium, and possess excellent communication skills and has the ability to write scientific papers and deliver presentations.
PhD Benefits
We offer you, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:
- a salary of € 2,541 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,247 gross per month in the fourth and final year
- a full-time position (1.0 FTE)
- a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
- an 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance
- minimum of 29 holidays and additional 12 holidays in case of full-time employment.
Each successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years. Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the contract period is to be expected. A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of the Faculty.
The preferred starting date is 1 September 2023.
PhD Application
The application for the position should include (as a single PDF file):
- cover letter with background and motivation to apply for this position (letter of motivation attachment)
- curriculum vitae, including details of bachelor and master degrees and publication list, if applicable (CV attachment)
- detailed (1-2 pages) description of previous research experience, such as the bachelor/master research projects (extra attachment 1)
- contact details of 2 people who can provide information on your suitability for the position (extra attachment 2).
Interviews are scheduled to take place on 8 May 2023
Only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be taken into consideration.
You may apply for this position until 20 April 11:59pm / before 21 April 2023 Dutch local time (CET) By means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).
The interviews for the position are scheduled for the week of third or fourth week of April 2023.
For further information related to this PhD Vacancy, you may contact Marjon de Vos, m.g.j.de.vos@rug.nl (please do not use the e-mail address for applications). For further information related to the vacancy, it is strongly advice to visit this PhD Scholarships.
