Post-doctoral fellow position in Microbiology / Molecular Plant Pathology – United States

The Stergiopoulos lab at the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California Davis is seeking for a highly skilled and motivated post-doctoral fellow in the fields of Microbiology, Fungal Biology, or (Molecular) Plant Pathology, with an interest in the identification and validation of molecular targets for novel bio-based antifungals. This is an industry funded position that will enable the post-doctoral fellow to interact closely with leading experts in the field of biological products for disease control.

The post-doctoral fellow will be drawn from the field of Fungal Biology, Microbiology, Molecular Plant Pathology, Plant Pathology, or related Biological disciplines and will lead the efforts in identifying and validating putative antifungal targets in select fungal plant pathogens. The initial focus will be on Cercosopra spp. but other fungal plant pathogens may be targeted as well. Specific lines of research include, but are not limited to, identifying antifungal targets through combing existing knowledge in fungal biology with -omics data produced by the industry partner, and further functionally characterizing these targets with respect to their intrinsic function, contribution to virulence and fungal fitness.

The position is for two-years at an 100% appointment. Salary and benefits are based on experience and qualifications according to the UC Davis pay-scales (https://grad.ucdavis.edu/postdoctoral/appointment-promotion). The Stergiopoulos lab research portfolio includes studying host-microbe interactions, fungicide resistance, and RNA silencing in fungi. We use system-level approaches that integrate genomics with classical genetics and biochemical analyses in order to identify and subsequently functionally characterize target genes in fungal plant pathogens.