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Employment

Society members searching for personnel are encouraged to post job announcements here.

Other announcements with protist relevance can be found at:
http://life.biology.mcmaster.ca/~brian/evoldir.html

Current announcements:

University of Kent (UK)

A PhD Fellowship in Evolutionary Cell Parasitology

Posting date: April 15, 2013

Project Description: Understanding the role and evolution of mitochondria in eukaryotic parasites

Mitochondria have multiple functions in eukaryotic cells. In canonical mitochondria, aerobic oxidative phosphorylation is a key process, since it provides ATP for the cell. Proteomic analyses of isolated mitochondria estimated that only 15% of the mitochondrial proteins are associated with energy metabolism (1). Other important processes within typical mitochondria include heme biosynthesis, oxidation of fatty acids, Fe/S cluster assembly, amino acid metabolism, mitochondrial genome maintenance and gene expression, protein folding and translocation, mitochondrial biogenesis (fusion and fission), and apoptosis. Microbial parasites have retained functionally distinct mitochondrion-related organelles (2), with overall functions that have been diversified from the canonical processes mentioned above. Moreover, there is still much to discover about mitochondrial processes as proteomic studies of different mitochondria showed that 20-40% of proteins are of unknown functions.

The aims of this project are to investigate the evolution, function and distribution of several distinct mitochondrial processes in microbial parasites and their role in the adaptation to parasitism. These aims will be addressed experimentally to reveal the purpose, evolutionary origins and trajectory as well as the function(s) of mitochondria and related organelles. Investigations of the mitochondria in parasites could lead to the identification of new drug targets for combating parasitic diseases as well as an understanding of how the mechanisms of parasitism evolve over time. The project will combine a variety of techniques including cell biology, biochemistry, proteomics, genetics and bioinformatics (for further reading see (3-7)).

The successful candidate will be part of the Tsaousis lab (Molecular and Evolutionary Parasitology), a newly established laboratory at the University of Kent. In addition, the candidate will collaborate with Dr. Mark van der Giezen's lab at the University of Exeter and Prof. Joel Dacks' lab at the University of Alberta.

We are looking for a highly motivated student with great interest in evolutionary cell parasitology. Experience in microbiology, biochemistry and/or bioinformatics will be an asset. Informal enquiries can be address to Dr. Anastasios Tsaousis (tsaousis.anastasios@gmail.com ).

Funding Notes: The studentship provides a stipend at current RCUK standard Home / EU rates of £13,590 per annum and covers Home / EU tuition fees. International applicants will have to meet the difference between Home /EU Fees and International Fees.

Applications can be made online (http://www.kent.ac.uk/bio/study/postgraduate/applications.html) where the project title should be entered as the proposed area of research and Dr Anastasios Tsaousis as supervisor. Please include a CV and a cover letter. Applications must be received by 30 April 2013.

Information about the School can be found at http://www.kent.ac.uk/bio/ and information about Canterbury can be found at http://www.canterbury.co.uk/ .

References:
1.Sickmann A, et al. (2003) The proteome of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100(23):13207-13212.
2.Hjort K, Goldberg AV, Tsaousis AD, Hirt RP, & Embley TM (2010) Diversity and reductive evolution of mitochondria among microbial eukaryotes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 365(1541):713-727.
3.Goldberg AV, et al. (2008) Localization and functionality of microsporidian iron-sulphur cluster assembly proteins. Nature 452(7187):624-628.
4.Long S, et al. (2011) Stage-specific requirement for Isa1 and Isa2 proteins in the mitochondrion of Trypanosoma brucei and heterologous rescue by human and Blastocystis orthologues. Mol Microbiol 81(6): 1403-1418.
5.Tsaousis AD, et al. (2011) A functional Tom70 in the human parasite Blastocystis sp.: implications for the evolution of the mitochondrial import apparatus. Mol Biol Evol 28(1):781-791.
6.Tsaousis AD, et al. (2008) A novel route for ATP acquisition by the remnant mitochondria of Encephalitozoon cuniculi. Nature 453(7194): 553-556.
7.Tsaousis AD, et al. (2012) Evolution of Fe/S cluster biogenesis in the anaerobic parasite Blastocystis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(26): 10426-10431

University of Exeter (UK)

PhD studentship: Identifying virulence factors in two highly pathogenic aquatic Aphanomyces species

Posting date: February 23, 2013

Applications are invited for a funded PhD studentship in Biosciences at the University of Exeter. This studentship will be funded by the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (Cefas). Successful applicants will be based within Biosciences, principally at the Streatham Campus, Exeter, at the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science Environment, Fisheries, Weymouth. A full description of the project is available at http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=1168.

Auburn University (Alabama, USA)

Lecturer in Cell Biology

Posting date: February 23, 2013

The Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University invites applications for a non-tenure-track Lecturer position in Biological Sciences beginning August 16, 2013. This faculty position is a nine-month appointment, renewable yearly. Biological Sciences is searching for a dynamic and enthusiastic individual dedicated to undergraduate teaching in a modern, cutting edge and diverse undergraduate biology program. The successful candidate will be responsible for teaching one semester-long lecture section in undergraduate Cell Biology (BIOL 4100) per year, and will have full responsibility for teaching Cell Biology Laboratory (BIOL 4101) during the Spring and Fall semesters. Summer teaching is optional. This position also includes responsibility for training Graduate Teaching Assistants and academic advising. Other responsibilities will develop depending on departmental needs and the individual's interests/expertise.

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences or a related field and demonstrated commitment to undergraduate teaching. Successful applicants will provide records of exemplary teaching at the undergraduate level and excellent interpersonal and communication skills. The candidate selected for this position must be able to meet eligibility requirements to work in the United States at the time the appointment is scheduled to begin, continue working legally for the proposed term of employment; excellent communication skills required. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Review of applications begins March 1, 2013 and will continue until a suitable applicant is found. Applicants must include the following as part of the application: 1) a curriculum vitae, 2) a statement of teaching philosophy and experience, 3) evidence of teaching excellence, and 4) names and contact information of at least three references. In order to apply for this position and view full details, please apply online at: https://aufacultypositions.peopleadmin.com/postings/141. Auburn University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

For more information please contact Dr. Tony Moss mossant@auburn.edu, Search Committee Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849-5407. More information about the department and its programs can be found at: http://www.auburn.edu/biology

Université Paris Sud, Orsay (France)

Postdoctoral position, protist diversity and phylogeny in suboxic environments

Posting date: February 1, 2013

A postdoctoral contract of 1 year renewable up to 3 years is available in the "Microbial diversity and evolution" team (http://www.ese.u-psud.fr/rubrique7.html?lang=en) at the institute of Ecology, Systematics and Evolution starting from September 2013 (dates are negotiable). The institute belongs to the French Research Council (CNRS) and the University of Paris-Sud, and is located at the pleasant university campus of Orsay, a botanical garden 25 km south of Paris, 30 min by direct train (RER B line).

The scientific project aims at exploring the diversity and phylogeny of protists thriving in selected anoxic or microaerophilic environments. The candidate will try to isolate novel protist species by cultivation and single cell collection. He/she will carry out phylogenetic analyses from various gene markers after gene/genome amplification. Emphasis will be put on divergent lineages with a pivotal location in the eukaryotic tree.

The postdoc will be funded by the ERC Advanced Grant ProtistWorld. The net salary will be of ca. 2400-2800 euros depending on the candidate experience and includes social security and medical assistance.

We are looking for highly motivated candidates with good experience in classical protistology (morphology, ecology, taxonomy) and molecular phylogeny.

Candidates should send a CV, a cover letter and the names of at least two referees to:
Purificación LOPEZ-GARCIA (puri.lopez@u-psud.fr) David MOREIRA (david.moreira@u-psud.fr)
Unité d'Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, UMR CNRS 8079
Université Paris-Sud. Bâtiment 360, 91405 Orsay cedex, FRANCE

Natural History Museum, London (UK)

Research Leaders, Earth and Life Sciences

Posting date: February 1, 2013

The Natural History Museum (NHM) is seeking to recruit a number of ‘Research Leaders’ into its staff to strengthen its capacity in Earth and Life Sciences.

The NHM is one of the world’s great natural history museums, combining excellence in scientific discovery; scientific collections and infrastructure; and science communication. Its scientific mission is to use its expertise and collections to tackle questions of broad significance to science and society.

The successful applicants will be recognised leaders in their fields of research, having strong records of publication in leading international journals and proven records of winning external funding to support their research programme or, in the case of early career applicants, the potential to achieve such a research profile in the near future. They will also have an interest in communicating science to a broad audience and in taking full advantage of the opportunities offered by the NHM.

We are prepared to be flexible with respect to appointment level, starting salary and starting date, depending on track-record, experience and circumstances.

For a full role specification and to apply online, please visit the Natural History Museum website at www.nhm.ac.uk/jobs

Closing date: 15 February, 2013

Informal enquiries may be made to Professors Andy Fleet (Head of Department of Earth Sciences, a.fleet@nhm.ac.uk), Phil Rainbow (Head of Department of Life Sciences, p.rainbow@nhm.ac.uk) or Ian Owens (Director of Science, i.owens@nhm.ac.uk).

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC (USA)

Assistant Professor, Molecular Microbial Ecology

Posting date: October 8, 2012

The Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is seeking applicants for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position. Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in the biological sciences with expertise in the area of Molecular Microbial Ecology. Candidates are expected to document expertise in their specialty by a record of post-doctoral training, peer-reviewed publications and plans for supporting an extramurally funded research program. While being open to work with any suitable microbial system, higher consideration will be given to applicants that complement existing expertise in aquatic microbial ecology, including environmental health. Previous teaching and mentoring experience is highly desirable.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute to teaching and mentoring in our undergraduate and graduate curricula with a focus on Molecular Microbiology in an ecological context. The Department of Biology supports BS, BA, MS (thesis & non-thesis) and PhD programs with a diverse body of faculty and students and prides itself with hands-on training of its students. The Department and College strongly support and value diversity among their students and faculty.

Candidates must apply online at http://jobs.uncc.edu, position number: 6898. Please provide a complete curriculum vita, philosophy statements for research and teaching in an ethnically diverse environment, contact information for three references, and three representative publications. Screening of applications will begin November 12, 2012, and continue until the position is filled. The expected start date is August 15, 2013.

For more information, please contact Dr. Matt Parrow (mwparrow@uncc.edu), Search Committee Chair, and/or the Biology Department web site: http://biology.uncc.edu.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is an EOE/AA employer and an ADVANCE Institution that strives to create an academic climate in which the dignity of all individuals is respected and maintained. Therefore, we celebrate diversity that includes, but is not limited to ability/disability, age, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.

University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Postdoctoral position in Bioinformatic Analysis of Next-Generation Sequence Data to Study Molecular Evolution and Ecology of Protists

Posting date: September 3, 2012

A postdoc position is available in the group of Prof. Jan Pawlowski, Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva http://genev.unige.ch/

The research of our group focuses on molecular evolution and ecology of Foraminifera and related protists. The organisms we are studying play major role in functioning of marine ecosystem, but our knowledge of their genomes and species diversity is very limited. Our group is using NGS technology to generate the metagenetic and transcriptomic data that are used to explore the environmental diversity and reconstruct the evolutionary history of Foraminifera and other Rhizaria.

To analyze these data, we are seeking a motivated candidate with a strong background in computer science and computational biology/bioinformatics, and an experience in analysis of high-throughput sequence data. The candidates should be fluent in programming in a scripting language (Perl/Python) and a data analysis environment (R/Matlab), and be familiar with server administration. She/he should have basic knowledge of molecular biology and ecology, and should be interested in application of NGS tools in environmental and evolutionary sciences.

The successful candidate will participate in development of pipelines for analysis of metagenetic data and for discovery of new phylogenomic markers. She/he is expected to actively interact with other postdocs and postgraduate students in the lab, providing support in bioinformatics and contributing to common publications.

The position is for 2 years with a highly competitive salary in the range of 80K CHF per year. The position will be filled as soon as an ideal candidate is found.

Please submit your application letter, a statement of research interests, CV, and the contact information of at least two references to:
Prof. Jan Pawlowski
Department of Genetics and Evolution
University of Geneva, Sciences III
30, Quai Ernest Ansermet
CH 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
E-mail: jan.pawlowski@unige.ch

University of Georgia, Athens, GA (USA)

Postdoctoral position in Toxoplasma calcium homeostasis

Posting date: June 3, 2012

A postdoctoral research fellow position is available at the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), one of the world's leading centers for parasite research. The CTEGD of the University of Georgia (UGA) is a multidisciplinary center comprised of a wide range of research programs focused largely on protozoan and metazoan parasites. Our group, a part of the CTEGD, has special interest in molecular and biochemical parasitology. Specifically we are interested in studying calcium homeostasis in protozoan parasites. Years back we discovered an acidic organelle rich in calcium that we named the acidocalcisome (Nature Rev. 3:251, 2005). We now know that this organelle is found in a variety of microorganisms including bacteria and protists and is related to lysosome-related organelles present in mammalian cells. More recently we discovered in T. gondii tachyzoites a novel post-Golgi compartment that we named the plant-like vacuole (PLV) (Mol. Microbiol., 76:1358, 2010). This organelle interacts with the acidocalcisome and appears to be linked to the endocytic/exocytic pathway of the parasite. The present project involves studies on the role of the PLV in calcium homeostasis, response to stress, and in sorting proteins to other important secretory organelles. We are also interested in the role of calcium entry during the lytic cycle of Toxoplasma gondii as we found that the PLV plays an important role in the regulation of this process. Calcium entry is important for attachment, and invasion of the host cell by the parasite, and we are dissecting the molecular components involved in this process. Our laboratory uses a variety of genetic tools and reagents available in our community but the basis of all of our studies is about answering biochemical and physiological questions. Check our web site: http://docampo_moreno.ctegd.uga.edu/

Interested applicants should send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a summary of research experience and the names of three referees to smoreno@uga.edu. Applicants must hold a PhD in a basic life science subject and should have an interest in molecular parasitology. Previous training in molecular and cell biology is strongly preferred. Good oral and written communication skills are essential. Previous experience working with parasites is not required.

BIOCEV, Prague (Czech Republic)

Postdoctoral position in protist genomics

Posting date: May 24, 2012

Postdoctoral position is available at the newly established institute BIOCEV at the suburb of Prague (Czech Republic). The post doctoral worker will join the team of Vladimir Hampl (https://web.natur.cuni.cz/~vlada/lab/) that is focused on the evolution of protists and their organelles. The team is currently running or preparing to launch several transcriptome, plastid genome and nuclear genome projects on various protists from the groups of Euglenida and Preaxostyla. These protists are interesting for example for their anaerobic or facultatively anaerobic life styles, absence of observable sexual reproduction, and massive reduction of mitochondria in Preaxostyla or evolution of secondary plastids in Euglenida. There are no published nuclear genomes from these groups.

The main task of the postdoctoral worker will be to establish and maintain an annotation pipeline for the transcriptomic and genomic data and to coordinate work on selected genome projects. Mandatory part of the contract will be teaching a specialised course depending on the interest and expertise of the worker (e.g. genome annotation, phylogenetics, or genomics).

The contract may start any time after the 1st of July 2012 and it finishes on the 30th of June 2015. The basic salary is 40 000 CZK (~2000 USD) per month, which easily covers the family cost of living in the locality. The contract contains also funds for travelling and consumables.

Ideal candidate is an interdisciplinary person, either a keen bioinformatician/genomicist skilled in programming that is interested in microbes, genomics and evolution or a protistologist with experiences in bioinformatics, genomics and programming. If you are interested, please send your motivation letter, CV and list of publications directly to Vladimir Hampl (vlada@natur.cuni.cz).

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