UPSC is a highly dynamic institute with around 200 employees, 30 principal investigators and about 10 associated principal investigators. Approximately half of our staff is non-Swedish and the working language is English. We recruit researchers from all over the world. More than 40 nations are represented at UPSC. Post-doctoral fellows have the most diverse nationalities, but also our PIs, graduate and undergraduate students represent many different nations.
Are you interested in joining us? Please have a look below for currently open job opportunities. You are also always welcome to contact our principal investigators directly if you are interested in working with them.
The position is open in Hannele Tuominen's group at the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) which is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). Our main activities at UPSC are academic research in experimental plant biology, where the major aim is to understand all aspects of plants in relation to the environment in which they live.
Last day to apply: 30 April 2020
Project description:
Plant xylem tissues consist of vessel elements and fibers which deposit secondary cell walls as a part of their maturation. Lignin is an important cell wall component which reinforces the walls and confers a hydrophobic barrier that is crucial for water transport in the xylem vessels. We have recently shown that lignification is a cooperative process in which the lignin monomers are supplied to the lignifying cells by their neighboring cells. We have also identified parts of the molecular machinery that mediate the non-cell autonomous lignification of the xylem vessel elements.
The PhD project will build on these results and focus on the role of two new genes in regulation of lignification with the help of various molecular, genetic and physiological methods. The project includes analysis of these genes on the DNA, RNA, and protein levels, functional assays in Arabidopsis, protein-protein interactions and transcriptional regulation. Many of the genetic tools are either already available or underway for the project. The results will be finally transferred to our Populus tree model in order to modify lignification in tree stems in a cell-specific manner.
The applicant will be part of a larger group of PhD students and Post-Docs working in related projects. You as a PhD student will thus have great opportunities for collaboration with other researchers in related projects.
The fellowship is a part of a 5-year project “ Co-evolution of metacaspase structure and biological function in Arabidopsis”, which aims to advance our mechanistic understanding of metacaspase family proteases in close cooperation between five research groups located in Uppsala BioCenter at SLU, Umeå SLU and Umeå University. The successful candidate for this fellowship will join the group of Hannele Tuominen at UPSC in Umeå, Sweden.
Last day to apply: 30 April 2020
Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) is a research centre in Umeå, Sweden (www.upsc.se) where research of both basic and strategic importance is conducted. The research at UPSC is carried out on all organization levels of the plant with a common goal to understand the plant as a complex organism in dynamic interaction with its environment.
Christiane Funk's research group at the Department of Chemistry at Umeå University is seeking a postdoc for a project where the aim is to characterize the structure and function of metacaspase-like proteases in cyanobacteria and unicellular algae.
Last day to apply: 11 May, 2020
Project description and working tasks
Cyanobacteria and algae have a potential commercial value as microbial producers of fuel or products with higher value. However, in nature their blooms also are threatening health and industrial benefits. To learn more about the viability of large algal/bacterial cultures we plan to study the protease family of metacaspases and their homologues in unicellular photosynthetic organisms. Studies will be performed in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the cryptophyte Giardia theta and the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The projects are connected to strong research environments at Umeå University and will be managed through regular meetings between the Postdoc and the involved scientists.
https://www.upsc.se/undergraduate/1430-undergraduate-education.html
UPSC group leaders: https://www.upsc.se/research/research-groups.html
UPSC associated group leaders: https://www.upsc.se/research/associated-research-groups.html