PhD Position in Microbiology

Are you fascinated by the complexity and diversity of eukaryotic cells? Are you excited by figuring out what innovates and shapes eukaryotic genomes? Are you pursuing a PhD at the intersection of fundamental evolutionary research, microbiology and bioinformatics?

We invite you to apply for a vacant PhD position in our dynamic research team. In this role, you will have the opportunity to explore the evolutionary processes driving genetic innovation in eukaryotes, such as de novo gene invention, gene fusion, and horizontal gene transfer.

The emergence of the complex eukaryotic cell, which gave rise to infamous lineages like plants, animals and fungi, comprises one of the major outstanding questions in evolutionary biology. The past decade has brought large progress in identifying the prokaryotic origins of eukaryotes. In this development, our group discovered the Asgard archaea, eukaryotes’ closest prokaryotic relatives, marking an important inflection point.

Analyses of accumulating genome data yielded insights into which genomic changes contributed to the origin of the eukaryotic cell. Yet, for many key eukaryotic genes, we still don’t know how they came about. Similarly, how more recent eukaryotic lineages evolve is an open question, particularly for eukaryotic microbes, which dominate the eukaryotic tree of life, yet are poorly studied.

As a PhD student in our lab, you will work in a stimulating environment. We are at the forefront of unravelling the deep origins of eukaryotic cells, and expand our explorations of the understudied world of eukaryotic microbes. You will utilize cutting-edge bioinformatics tools to trace the evolution of proteins and genomes. As a result, you will deepen our understanding of the origins and diversification of eukaryotic cellular complexity. You will have the opportunity to pursue your own research questions and implement your ideas.

Your responsibilities include:

• implementing state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools to scrutinize the evolutionary histories of eukaryotic proteins;
• interpreting large-scale evolutionary analyses in the framework of eukaryotic cellular complexity and diversity;
• contributing to teaching in our courses and supervising BSc and MSc thesis students. 

Your qualities

You are a highly motivated and curiosity-driven candidate with a strong interest in evolution, genomics, and microbiology. You have experience with handling biological datasets and using bioinformatics tools, and preferentially have some knowledge about homology, phylogenetics, and 3D protein structure prediction algorithms like AlphaFold.  

You also possess:

• an MSc degree in Biology, Microbiology, Bioinformatics, or a related field;
• programming experience with languages like Python and/or R;
• documented experience in bioinformatics analyses;
• good verbal and written communication skills, as well as the willingness and ability to work together in teams.

We offer you

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

Do you want more information?

For more information about this position, please contact Jolien van Hooff, Assistant professor, by e-mail: jolien.vanhooff@wur.nl.
For more information about the procedure, please contact Rutger Voorrips, corporate recruiter, by email: rutger.voorrips@wur.nl. 

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.
This vacancy will be listed up to and including 31 October 2024. We hope to schedule the first job interviews in November 2024.

Additional information form
For this position, you must fill in a mandatory form which will allow us to have a comprehensive view of your qualifications and better assess your fit for it. You can access the form using the link below:
https://forms.office.com/e/7LwLQGbcVm
Your prompt response will ensure that your application continues to move forward in the evaluation process. We assure you that the information provided will be kept confidential and used solely for this application process.

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.

We are

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch this video to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves and do not appreciate unasked for services from recruitment agencies. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.