About Ecole Centrale de Lyon: The mission of Ecole Centrale de Lyon is to educate its students to become generalist engineers and multi-disciplined post-graduate leaders in their field, with an open-minded, wide-ranging vision of the world. Internationally, nationally and industrially renowned, research at Ecole Centrale de Lyon is performed around 6 laboratories, all Joint research units (UMR) CNRS. In an increasingly globally competitive environment, coupled with economical and societal expectations, Centrale Lyon has put in place a dynamic scientific policy, structured around 5 main disciplines: nanotechnology and nanomaterials, transport, energy, environment and bio-engineering. We have 3 open positions in different topics in soil nitrogen cycling and soil viruses:
1- Two positions in soil virus ecology: postdoctoral researcher and fully-funded PhD studentship:
We are seeking two researchers to investigate the impact of viruses on soil N biogeochemical cycling: We are seeking one postdoctoral researcher (minimum 2-year position) and one PhD candidate (3-year position) to investigate the impact of soil viruses on soil biogeochemical cycling. This research will specifically focus on understanding the diversity, activity and ecological impact of viruses infecting nitrifying prokaryotes and include evaluation of ‘phage therapy’ approaches as a targeted and natural control mechanism for reducing nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions.
Research will involve microbial cultivation, metagenomics, stable-isotope probing and soil biogeochemistry analyses. The positions will be within the Environmental Microbial Genomics group at École Centrale de Lyon, France. Flexible start date but anticipate from January 2023.
Requirements
Postdoctoral researcher
- Completed PhD in microbiology, microbial ecology or related fields
- Demonstrable background in microbial ecology
- Experience with microbial cultivation including isolation of viruses is highly desirable
- Experience in bioinformatic analysis of metagenomes
- Able to demonstrate independent working and innovation
- Fluent in English and excellent scientific writing skills
- Publication record in microbial ecology
- Motivated to work with an international team of researchers
PhD candidate
- Bachelor and Masters degrees in microbiology, microbial ecology or related fields
- Previous research with a focus in microbial ecology
- Fluency in English
- Experience with microbial cultivation including isolation of viruses is highly desirable
For more information or to arrange an informal discussion please contact Graeme Nicol (graeme.nicol@ec-lyon.fr) or Christina Hazard (christina.hazard@ec-lyon.fr). To apply, please send a 1-page cover letter (highlighting your interest and relevant experience) and CV (with contact information for 3 references).
If you are attending ISME18 in Lausanne, please feel free to contact us to discuss the projects in person!
Application deadline: 15 September 2022
Start date: Flexible
Location: Lyon, France
2- Postdoctoral researcher position in soil nitrogen cycling:
Determining the interaction of nitrification inhibitors with microbial communities involved in soil nitrogen cycling: 2.5-year (minimum) postdoctoral researcher position in soil nitrogen cycling is available within the Environmental Microbial Genomics Group at École Centrale de Lyon, University of Lyon, France.
The postdoc will work within the framework of the EC-funded project ‘ACTIONr’ (H2020 project funded under the call HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03-01 Call Twinning). The 3-year project is in collaboration with the University of Thessaly (Prof. Dimitrios Karpouzas and Assistant Prof. Evangelia Papadopoulou) and University of Vienna (Prof. Christa Schleper and Dr Melina Kerou).
The overall theme of the research programme is to elucidate the interaction of nitrification inhibitors with microbial communities involved in soil nitrogen cycling. The mitigation of reactive N loss via nitrification inhibitors is a promising solution for increasing N use efficiency (NUE) in agriculture. ACTIONr aims to unravel the scientific excellence and innovation potential through a European network of excellence on establishing novel tools and pathways for optimized NUE, reducing the continued acceleration of the N cycle, and decreasing the environmental footprint of reactive N. The main tasks of the researcher will be:
- Assessment of the behaviour, efficiency and off-target toxicity of nitrification inhibitors on the soil biota including both N cycling microbes and the total microbial community using a range of molecular tools (qPCR, amplicon sequencing etc.)
- To analyse molecular and ‘omic data using biostatistical and bioinformatic tools
- To determine the effects and activity range of synthetic and biological nitrification inhibitors in soil ecosystem using DNA-SIP
- To determine the effects of nitrification inhibitors on GHG emissions in soil
- To write scientific papers and present the research in scientific conferences
- To participate and contribute to the dissemination, networking and training activities of the project
- 1-year opportunity to participate in the supervision of lab work of PhD student from University of Thessaly in the ACTIONr project
Requirements
- Completed PhD in microbiology, microbial ecology or related fields
- Strong background in molecular microbial ecology (e.g. qPCR, amplicon sequencing, bioinformatics, DNA-SIP)
- Previous experience in nitrification research would be highly beneficial.
- Able to demonstrate independent working and innovation
- Fluent in English and excellent scientific writing skills
- Publication record in microbial ecology
- Motivated to work with an international team of researchers
For more information or to arrange an informal discussion please contact Graeme Nicol (graeme.nicol@ec-lyon.fr) or Christina Hazard (christina.hazard@ec-lyon.fr). To apply, please send a 1-page cover letter (highlighting your interest and relevant experience) and CV (with contact information for 3 references).
If you are attending ISME18 in Lausanne, please feel free to contact us to discuss the projects in person!
Application deadline: 15 September 2022
Start date: 01 January 2023
Location: Lyon, France