The Ecosystems and Global Change Group led by Dr Andrew Tanentzap at the University of Cambridge (www.ecosystemchange.com) is seeking a full-time Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA). The PDRA will join an exciting project funded by the European Research Council investigating the ecological and evolutionary importance of molecular diversity in dissolved organic matter.

The goal of the position is to determine how chemical diversity in dissolved organic matter influences the adaptation and evolution of microbes. The PDRA will be responsible for managing and delivering a multi-year evolution experiment where a focal bacterium, ideally Pseudomonas fluorescens, will be grown on media amended with dissolved organic matter sourced from different lakes and alongside different levels of competition from other model taxa. They will perform regular sequencing and fitness assays of the focal strains, and may be required to visit field sites to source the organic matter. Finally, the PDRA may be involved in analysing existing metagenomics datasets collected across European lakes.

The successful candidate must be a highly motivated scientist with a proven track record of publication in leading peer-reviewed journals, ideally with evidence of innovation in applying theory to empirical datasets. They will have a PhD in evolutionary biology, environmental microbiology, or a related subject and considerable experience with all of experimental evolution, aquatic ecology, and genomics. Experience with project and team management is ideal.

Please ensure that you upload a covering letter describing how you meet the post specifications, a CV, and the names of two academic referees that can comment on your suitability for the role. We will be unable to consider any other additional documents as part of your application.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.

Further details are available at http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/25139/file/further+particulars.pdf

To apply, visit http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/25139/.