Download mathlgwlflgmllriifplasaklvtppnmteldtrfptdcfnrtsfppdf

PhD position in the DARWIN-XXI Plant-Microbe Interaction Program
(Heribert Hirt Laboratory)
KAUST (King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology) is a recently created
University of Excellence in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Desert Biology Research
Center is fully equipped for carrying out functional genetic, molecular and cellular
biology of plants. Infrastructures exist to study the physiology and development, as
well as their interactions with a fluctuating abiotic environment. The Desert Biology
Research Center at KAUST aims at recruiting the best scientists from around the
world irrespective of sex, color or religion. The research program of the Desert
Biology Research Center focuses on the study of plants to settle and sustain under
extreme conditions of nutrient scarcity and extreme drought, heat and salt conditions.
It is clear that an understanding of the underlying mechanisms is thought to provide
strategies to re-establish agriculture in many arid and desert-like regions in the world.
Project description
Recent evidence has shown that symbiotic and mutualistic microbes in the
rhizosphere of plants can be of major importance to settle in nutrient-poor and
environmentally extreme conditions. On the other hand, the global diversity of
organisms, both at the plant and microbe level, and their interaction mechanisms have
been hardly studied and represent one of the last blanks on the terrestrial map. The
Hirt lab launches the DARWIN-XXI program, a world-wide research project to
identify and study these interactions at the molecular level. In collaboration with
partner institutes on various continents, a major part of the project will be the
collection and analysis of the interacting plant-microbe partners by next generation
sequencing, proteomics and metabolomics approaches to establish an open access
digital terrestrial heritage map. It will also be attempted to isolate a maximal number
of microbial strains and try to extend their capacity to help agriculturally important
plants to improve growth and yield under desert-like conditions. It is believed that the
gained knowledge from the DARWIN-XXI program should help to reestablish
sustainable agricultural systems in many regions of the world.
Qualifications
Candidates must have completed an MSc degree in biology, molecular biology,
biochemistry or bioinformatics. Besides good social skills, the ability to work
independently as well as in a team and good English language proficiency are
required.
Your application should contain a personal letter of intent, a CV and contact
information of two reference persons. The advertisement of the position will be open
until appropriate candidates have been identified.
Your complete application, marked with a reference code DarwinXXI, should be sent
to [email protected]