A 3-year postdoctoral fellowship in microbial bioinformatics is available in the Microbial Interactions Research Group based at the Section for Microbial Ecology and Biotechnology and located at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The position commences 1 March 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Description of scientific environment
The research focus at the Department is centered on plants, microorganisms, animals and the environment as a basis for sustainable production of food and other biological products. Research and teaching cover natural resources, agriculture, biotechnology and synthetic biology from the molecular level to the ecosystem scale.

The postdoc will be based in the Microbial Interactions Group under the supervision of Associate Professor Mette Haubjerg Nicolaisen. The position will be mainly associated to the INTERACT project funded by the Novo Nordisk foundation. The overall aim of the project is to decode the intimate microbial interactions in the rhizobiome, and reveal their influence on plant growth and performance.

To fully exploit the potential of plant-microbe interactions, currently being proposed as a fundamental part of the green solutions for sustainable agricultural production, a much deeper understanding of the complex and often transient interactions in the rhizosphere environment is needed. Our goal is to detangle these interactions down to the molecular level, and understand them in an ecologically relevant scenario. The knowledge will feed into an establishment of predictive models on plant performance under diverse environmental conditions.

We are seeking a highly motivated bioinformatician who is enthusiastic about the opportunity to develop his/her skills in an international research environment, where different disciplines work closely together to obtain a holistic understanding of microbe-plant interactions in the soil environment.

Job description

The selected candidate is expected to:

• Contribute to the INTERACT research program and ongoing projects relating to plant-microbe/nematode-microbe interactions
• Further develop and strengthen the area of soil microbiome analysis through the handling of multi-omics data, including the integration of bioinformatics analyses for microbial community studies combined with metatranscriptomics and metabolic network analysis
• Participate in the dissemination of research at both international and national conferences and in interdisciplinary research and publish in international peer-reviewed journals
• Participate in the acquisition of external funding
• Participate in teaching activities at the department including the supervision of BSc and MSc students

Qualification requirements

• A PhD degree in bioinformatics, microbial genomics, computational biology, molecular biology, or related fields
• A strong motivation for the area of research
• Excellent written and spoken English

Key criteria for the assessment of candidates

Special importance will be attached to applicants having the following professional and personal qualifications:

• Documented experience analyzing metagenomic datasets
• Basic understanding of microbiology and/or microbial ecology
• Experience in multivariate statistics and handling multi-omics data, including metatranscriptomics is an advantage
• Expertise and/or strong interest in microbial bioinformatics
• Well-developed collaborative skills
• Publication record within bioinformatics or microbiome studies

Contact: Associate Professor Mette Haubjerg, email meni@plen.ku.dk, phone (+45) 35 33 26 49

The University wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Terms of employment
The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff. Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. The starting salary is currently up to DKK 430.569 including annual supplement (+ pension up to DKK 73.627). Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

The application, in English, must be submitted electronically. Please include:

• Curriculum vitae
• Diplomas (Master and PhD degree or equivalent)
• Description of PhD and current (if applicable) research
• Complete publication list
• Contact information for three reference persons

The deadline for applications is 3 January 2021 at 23:59 GMT +1. After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee. You can read about the recruitment process here.