Postdoctoral researcher in Microbiology and Genomics (22817) – Pathology, bacteriology and poultry diseases – Ghent, Belgium

Belgium
Posted 2 years ago

→  Apply before 31/03/2022 (DD/MM/YYYY) 23:59 (Brussels Time)
   →  Faculty of Veterinary Medicine  
   →  Department: DI05 – Pathobiologie, Farmacologie en Bijzondere Dieren
   →  Occupancy rate: 100%
   →  Number of positions: 1    
   →  Type of employment: Contract of limited duration 
   →  Term of assignment: 2 jaar 
   →  Wage scale:  PD1 to PD4 (doctoral degree) 
   →  Required diploma: PhD 

The Livestock Gut Health Team (LiGHT) Ghent, within the department of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine is currently hiring an enthusiastic and highly motivated post-doctoral researcher to work on a research project on “Surface Imprinted Polymers technology and Nanopore sequencing for point of care food microbial analysis – SIPORE”.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The SIPORE project entails the study of two point-of-care technologies, Surface Imprinted Polymers (SIP) based biosensors and nanopore sequencing, which can be used for the detection and characterization of foodborne bacterial pathogens with sufficient performance characteristics for future field applications. This project will be performed in collaboration with KU Leuven, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) and Flander Food.
The goal of the project is (1) to optimize and validate the SIP biosensor for specific target organisms, (2) to acquire knowledge on the discriminatory power and reproducibility of MinION nanopore sequencing for target pathogen characterization at sub-species level in comparison with Illumina sequencing, and (3) to explore the use of SIP biosensors as initial screening and selection step for downstream MinION typing analysis.
Within the Livestock Gut Health Team (LiGHT) Ghent we will focus on point-of-care detection of Salmonella. Salmonella problems can occur in all segments of the poultry feed chain. Infection may happen during the production of feed materials all the way up to the production of live animals. Eggs and poultry meat are major sources of human food-borne salmonellosis throughout the world.

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 8,000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities. With its 11 faculties and more than 80 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

YOUR TASKS

–    You will join the Livestock Gut Health Team (LiGHT) Ghent, and work independently on the research project to perform the lab validations of the SIP biosensor for specific target organisms (Salmonella), perform the benchmarking of Illumina vs. MinION sequencing for Salmonella inclusive of development of the necessary bio-informatic pipelines and will test the coupling of the SIP with the MinION workflow for Salmonella (providing a unique combination of wet lab and dry lab work)
–    You will support the research group through bioinformatics and statistical analysis of large scale NGS data sets on various projects within the research group
–    Guidance of master students and PhD students

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

–    You hold a thesis-based doctoral degree. Preferably a PhD in biological science, including animal science, veterinary science, bio-engineering or related disciplines
–    Excellent communication skills and proficient in English
–    Highly motivated and team-oriented
–    You are driven to explore research questions independently and in depth
–    You have a specific interest in microbiology
–    Demonstrated scientific writing through high-quality publications
–    Knowledge of programming languages such as R (incl. RMarkdown) or Python
–    Familiar with the Linux/Unix environment and handling large datasets
–    A strong track record in NGS data analysis (nanopore and Illumina sequencing) is a plus

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
–    We offer you a contract of definite duration for 24 months (full-time, 100%) Your contract will start on 1/05/2022 at the earliest.
–    Your remuneration will be determined by salary scale PD1 to PD4 (if you hold a PhD degree). Click here for more information about our salary scales.
–    All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, a bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits (in Dutch).
–    Working in a pleasant environment with a young and dynamic team of Ghent University in close collaboration with the KU Leuven and Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO)

INTERESTED?

Apply online through the e-recruitment system before the application deadline (see above). We do not accept late applications or applications that are not submitted through the online system.

Your application must include the following documents:

–    In the field ‘CV’: your CV
–    In the field ‘Cover letter’: your application letter in pdf format
–    In the field ‘Diploma’: a transcript of the required degree. If you have a foreign diploma in a language other than our national languages (Dutch, French or German) or English, please add a translation in one of the mentioned languages.

Note that the maximum file size for each field is 10 MB.

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Prof. Gunther Antonissen (Gunther.Antonissen@ugent.be). Important: do NOT send your application by email, but apply online.

Job Features

Job CategoryTeaching and scientific research, Postdoctoral

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