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EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs more than 6,500 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of more than 17,000 people, including over 12,500 students and 4,000 researchers from more than 120 different countries.

PhD Environmental Microbial Ecology

Mission

The laboratory for Microbiome Adaptation in the Changing Environment (MACE) lab is seeking PhD student to lead a project on environmental adaptation of Alpine microbial communities. The successful candidate will join the Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Centre (ALPOLE) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. The ALPOLE research center is based in Sion, Switzerland with a mission to address key challenges related to environmental change in Alpine and Polar regions undergoing rapid and unprecedented transformations.

 

Permafrost landscapes are rapidly transforming due to anthropogenic climate change. Climate warming disproportionately impacting cryosphere habitats results in an increased rate of permafrost degradation and further releases of greenhouse gases (GHGs) via microbial decomposition of ancient carbon stores. The response of cryophilic microorganisms to warming in polar and alpine regions will shape future GHG emissions. The PhD project will focus on the environmental adaptation strategies of cryospheric microbial communities in response to climate warming and in turn gauge the downstream effects these communities have on GHG emissions and ecosystem functions in alpine permafrost areas. To anticipate the full potential of the microbial organisms to adapt to climate change the project will integrate understanding of both community population level changes and individual molecular scale adaptation strategies that allow organisms to thrive in rapidly changing and threatened permafrost environments. This will be achieved through integration of in situ field measurements, culturing, multi-omics, and computational methods. Furthermore, the overall project will aim to integrate multiple layers of data including biogeochemical measurements, cultivation of microorganism, Oxford nanopore metagenomics, and metatranscriptomics/metaproteomics in a united analysis.

Main duties and responsibilities

As a PhD Student, you will be expected to:

  • Have full responsibility for your own dissertation
  • Carry out research activities related alpine permafrost microbiomes
  • Participate in experimental design and execution
  • Participate in field work and sample collection
  • Completion of classes as requirements by the doctoral school
  • Analysis and interpretation of experimental results
  • Writing scientific articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals
  • Participate in teaching assistance
  • Presenting results at international conferences
  • Supervise Master student projects and basic administrative support

Profile

We are looking for candidate with:

  • Master’s degree in a relevant field (environmental science, microbiology, molecular microbiology, genomics, ecology, bioinformatics, etc)
    or a BSc with Honours.
  • Proven track record of written communication skills
  • Familiarity with bioinformatics analysis
  • Experience in molecular techniques
  • Experience in classical microbiology techniques
  • Willingness to participate/plan field expeditions in challenging places

We offer

  • 4 years to complete your PhD with a competitive stipend
  • An opportunity to develop a scientific career in Environmental Microbiology
  • A chance to learn emerging techniques in microbiome science
  • A world-class research and training environment with access to state-of-the-art research facilities
  • Opportunities to attend and present research at international conferences

Informations

Your application should contain:

  • A brief letter of motivation
  • Copy of your CV including a list of publications
  • Contact information for 2-3 references

Application deadline: Tentative deadline is November 24th. However applications will be assessed as soon as they are received.
For more information, please contact: ianina.altshuler@epfl.ch (no applications send to this address shall be considered).

If you are successful, you will need to be admitted to one of the EPFL doctoral school programs. Please check this page for additional information. Please note that this is a separate application process necessary to be eligible to complete your PhD at EPFL.

 

Contract Start Date : Flexible, early 2025

Activity Rate : 100%

Contract Type : PhD Student

Duration :

Reference : 1165










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