Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Department of Plant Biology
Position:
A fully funded PhD position is available at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala, Sweden to investigate the mechanisms behind how plants regenerate tissues. Although plant regeneration is important for wound healing and is widely used in horticulture to multiply plants, we have little understanding of how plants activate and deploy regeneration.
The aim of this PhD position is to build upon recent discoveries made in plant regeneration (Feng et al. 2024, Nature Plants; Zhang et al. 2022, Current Biology; Melnyk et al. 2018, PNAS) and apply these discoveries to better understand how, after wounding, plants decide to activate regeneration or defense.
The project will use comparative transcriptomics, forward genetics and reverse genetics to identify genes and pathways that activate regeneration. The project will focus on understanding the importance of self/non-self recognition, stress perception and defense responses to better understand how plants graft and regenerate.
The PhD position is fully funded by a project grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and the successful applicant will work in the group of Charles Melnyk (https://melnyklab.com/) for four years. The department is located in the recently built Uppsala BioCenter at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
Uppsala is a lively university city, conveniently located close to Stockholm (40 minutes by train) and Stockholm’s main international airport (20 minutes by train). Starting date is autumn 2024.
Qualifications:
Candidates should have an MSc degree or have completed four years of university-level education including one year at MSc level. The degree and courses should be related to plant biology, molecular biology, cell biology or related knowledge that the employer considers equivalent.
Prior experience with genetics, plants, transcriptomics, microscopy and molecular biology are assets. Creativity, motivation and drive are important personal characteristics as is excellent proficiency in English since English is the working language in the research group.
Candidates should also have an ability to conduct independent research, take initiative, ask pertinent scientific questions, and interact well with other scientists and students.
Application:
Applications are submitted through SLU’s application portal (https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/work-at-slu/jobs-vacancies/) under the reference SLU.ua.2024.2.5.1-617 by March 18, 2024.
Applications must include (1) CV (2) a description of research experiences, (3) a letter of motivation and (4) contact information of two to three references.
A direct application link can be found here: https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/work-at-slu/jobs-vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=9814&rmlang=UK
For informal inquiries about the position, please contact: charles.melnyk@slu.se
