PhD in Biology - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Requirement profile

This Ph D project is a part of a Marie-Curie ITN-EID project, "MossTech" (see: www.MossTech.eu), with the overall aim of supplying the European industry with new substances that can be produced by bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts), as an alternative to petrochemical production.

In this subproject, bryophytes anticipated to produce potentially interesting substances (small metabolites such as terpenoids) will be subject to culturing under axenic conditions. Promising plant materials will be provided for the other subprojects within MossTech. It is known that mosses produces chemicals with allelopathic effect, i.e. substances that can hamper the growth of competing species.

Project description

The work flow will include:

• Establishment of sterile cultures from surface sterilized sporophytes

• Optimization of yield using different culturing techniques

• Chemical analyses using mass spectrometry

• Examination of allelopathic activity using bio-assays under sterile conditions

• Quantification of substances that show allelopathic effect

• Interpretation of allelopathic properties in relation to plant community composition

The overall aims of the study of allelopathic substances is to (1) find chemicals that can be used as natural phytotoxicals and (2) understand biotic filtering processes that are activated during primary or secondary colonisation and may explain community assembly in plant vegetation. The Ph D candidate will spend half of the project period at Iceland, undertaking analytical work at a company called Arctic Mass, and the other half at the Department of Biology, Lund University. This Ph D candidate will have a background in biology and he/she will collaborate closely with another Ph D candidate that will be recruited within MossTech to provide the expertise in analytical chemistry.

Required Qulifications

• Candidates should have a master's degree in Plant Biology or a similar degree (Biochemistry, Biotechnology, etc.) with an academic level equivalent to a Master of Science degree
• Previous experience in plant culturing
• Proven laboratory experience with molecular biology and/or biochemistry
• Strong work ethic and motivation to succeed within a competitive research field
• Good communication skills
• Talent for scientific writing
• Proficiency in written and spoken English

The applicant must possess an MSc degree prior to initiation of the PhD study and be able to take up the position no later than April 1st, 2018.

Special requirements for Marie-Curie ITN-EID positions

At the time of recruitment, it is a requirement that PhD candidates have not been awarded a doctorate degree and are in the first 4 year-period (full-time equivalent) of their research careers. Furthermore, at the time of selection by Lund University, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in either Sweden or Iceland for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.

Eligibility
Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who- have completed a second-cycle degree- have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.