Postdoctoral Scientist in Host-Pathogen Coevolution ~ Bioblogia.net

23 de abril de 2012

Postdoctoral Scientist in Host-Pathogen Coevolution


A two-year Postdoctoral Scientist position is available on or after
October 1st, 2012 at the University of Montpellier II, France. The work
will be performed in the research group headed by Dr. Michael Hochberg,
and in association with Dr.  Peter Thrall (CSIRO Canberra, Australia)
and Prof. Jennifer Dunne (Santa Fe Institute, USA).  The project is
fully funded by a grant from the McDonnell Foundation.

Context: The proposed project will probe how environments influence
the structure of antagonistic coevolutionary interactions. In nature
individual organisms are confronted with diverse arrays of abiotic
and biotic stresses and mortality factors. This generates higher order
complexity because of the multi-scale nature of these interactions, and
because both exogenous environments and organisms shift and change in
ways which may be difficult to predict. Our goal is to explain patterns
in the diversity of interactive traits between host and pathogen, by
manipulating this complexity at different scales and teasing apart the
contributions of its components to coevolutionary dynamics and population
structure. We are interested in both fundamental approaches and their
applications to the control of microbial pathogens and pests.

Requirements: PhD and demonstrated experience in microbial ecology and
evolution. Candidates with experience in microbial molecular biology and
having a solid training in evolutionary biology are also encouraged to
apply. Excellent command of scientific English.

Interested candidates should apply by 1 June 2012 by sending (1) a
letter of motivation, (2) a CV with publication list, and (3) the names,
institutions and email addresses of three references to Dr. Michael
Hochberg at mhochber@univ-montp2.fr

Recent group publications:
Poisot T., Lepennetier G., Martinez E., Ramsayer
J. & Hochberg M.E. 2010. Resource availability
affects the structure of a natural
bacteria/bacteriophage community. Biology Letters doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0774
Ramsayer J., Fellous S., Cohen J.E. & Hochberg
M.E. 2011. Taylor's Law holds in experimental
bacterial populations but competition does not
influence the slope. Biology Letters DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0895
Poisot T., Canard E., Mouquet N. & Hochberg M.E.
2012. A comparative study of ecological
specialization estimators. Methods in Ecology and
Evolution DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.
00174.x
Escobar-Paramo P., Gougat-Barbera C. & Hochberg
M.E. 2012. Evolutionary dynamics of separate and
combined exposure of Pseudomonas fluorescens
SBW25 to antibiotics and bacteriophage.
Evolutionary Applications. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4571.2012.00248.x
Poisot T., Canard E., Mouquet N. & Hochberg M.E.
2012. A comparative study of ecological
specialization estimators. Methods in Ecology and
Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00174.x
Kaltz O., Escobar-Paramo P., Hochberg M.E. &
Cohen J.E. (In press). Bacterial microcosms obey
Taylor's law: Effects of abiotic and biotic
stress and genetics on mean and variance of
population density. Ecological Processes
Escobar-Paramo P., Coulouma G., Roger F.,
Gougat-Barbera C. & Hochberg M.E. (Submitted). pH
affects the mode of bacterial evolution: a case
study of rifampicin resistance in natural Pseudomonas fluorescens populations.


Dr. Michael Hochberg, CNRS
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution
Université Montpellier II, France
http://www.eec.univ-montp2.fr/people/mike-hochberg/

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