The Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University, which is a part of Umeå Plant Science Centre, is offering a postdoctoral scholarship in Stephan Wenkel’s research group on a project aimed at studying the role microProteins in plant development. The scholarship refers to full-time studies for two years with starting date according to agreement.
Last day to apply: 20 October 2023
Project description and working tasks
The project is aimed at manipulating plant development using microProtein engineering. MicroProteins are small single-domain proteins that have been shown to control diverse biological pathways (see e.g., Hong et al., PNAS, 2020). In the project we will employ a combination of genome-engineering approaches and protein engineering in tomato to modulate microProtein expression and activity.
Qualifications
To be eligible as a postdoctoral fellow, a completed doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree is required. This eligibility requirement must be met at the latest at the time when the decision on scholarship recipients is made. Priority should be given to candidates who completed their doctoral degree, according to what is stipulated in the paragraph above, no later than three years prior. If there are special reasons, candidates who completed their doctoral degree prior to that may also be eligible. Special reasons include absence due to illness, parental leave, appointments of trust in trade union organizations, military service, or similar circumstances, as well as clinical practice or other forms of appointment/assignment relevant to the subject area.
The successful candidate will have a PhD degree, or equivalent, in plant molecular biology or biotechnology. Experience with omics data analyses and plants (especially Arabidopsis and tomato) as model system is required. Applicants should also possess the ability to independently plan and further their insight in the research question, as well as cooperate in a team. Good oral and written communication skills in the English language are required.
The candidate should have extensive laboratory experience with biochemical methods and molecular biology. We value your creativity, ability to communicate and take initiatives.
Application
The application should contain:
- A personal letter, max 2 pages, that describes your qualifications, research interests, and motivation for application
- CV with full publication list
- Certified copies of doctoral degree certificate or equivalent and other relevant degree certificates and grades,
- Copy of doctoral thesis,
- Other documents wished to be claimed.
Your complete application, marked with reference number FS 2.1.6-1738-23, must be submitted as a pdf-document to
The closing date is the 20th of October 2023.
Contact
Further details are provided from Stephan Wenkel,
About the Research Environment
The Department of Plant Physiology is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) which is a centre of excellence for experimental plant research and forest biotechnology in Northern Sweden. Our mission is to perform excellent and innovative basic research and generate knowledge that benefits forestry, agriculture, environment and society. We work across a wide range of disciplines in plant science reaching from cell biology to ecophysiology and from basic research to industrial applications. Our common goal is to understand the plants’ ability to grow, adapt and acclimate to a changing world and how we can breed better plants.
UPSC belongs to two universities, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Umeå University. About 200 people from more than 40 different nationalities work here. We host some 30 principal investigators, and our researchers have access to state-of-the-art analytical platforms, unique tree germplasm resources and plant growth facilities. We strive for a collaborative work environment and support our scientists throughout all career stages by providing professional training opportunities and individual career mentoring.
Umeå has a strong postdoc community organised in the Umeå Postdoc Society (UPS). UPS fosters networking amongst postdocs, organises social and career development events and works towards improving the postdoc experience in Umeå. Check out their website: https://umeapostdocsociety.se/ and do not hesitate to get in contact with them!
We look forward to receiving your application!