1 Postdoctoral position in Microbial Ecology in Netherlands | University of Amsterdam Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED)

The IBED is one of the eight research institutes within the Faculty of Science. Research in IBED includes Community Dynamics, Biodiversity and Evolution, and Geo-Ecology, and aims at a better understanding of the dynamics of ecosystems at all relevant levels, from genes to climate change, using a truly multidisciplinary approach.

Due to a STW grant entitled Exploring microbial diversity for extension of the boundaries of biopolymer production using parallel cultivation (ExploDiv) to Prof. dr. Gerard Muyzer, IBED has a vacancy for a postdoctoral researcher.

Project description

Microbial community engineering (MCE) based bioprocesses depend on the definition of environmental conditions that allow for enrichment of microorganisms with specific functionalities from a bacterial inoculum with a large diversity. This project aims for optimization of the selective environment for microorganisms with the capacity to produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). To intensify our search for promising selective conditions, and to increase the efficiency of our optimization of the production process, a bioreactor setup is developed that allows for establishment of many microbial enrichments in parallel. Subsequently, the microbial communities enriched under these conditions will be quantitatively evaluated for their functionality in relation to the microbial community structure established. The project will be conducted in close cooperation with the Environmental Biotechnology group at Delft University of Technology, where the enrichment experiments and functional characterization of the microbial communities will be conducted. The candidate will conduct the ecogenomic analysis of the microbial communities as a function of time and operational variables. State-of-the-art techniques, such as amplicon sequencing and different 'meta-omic' approaches will be applied. This approach enables unprecedented possibilities for conducting comparative analysis of microbial community structures, and allows the study of interesting ecological themes, such as functional redundancy and process robustness.

Requirements

• PhD in Microbial Ecology
• experience with molecular techniques
• track record in bioinformatics
• affinity with Systems Biology
• fluent in English
• ability to work in a multidisciplinary research team

Conditions of employment

The position will start in January 2015. The full-time appointment will be on a temporary basis for a maximum period of 2.5 years. The full-time gross monthly salary will range from €2,427 to €3,831. The Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities is applicable. The annual salary will be increased by 8 % holiday allowance and 8.3 % end-of-year bonus.