Notice Board
METABOLITE SCIENTIST - POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
PLANT STRESS GROUP
Purpose
The Plant Stress Group, under the leadership of Prof Jill Farrant, has been in operation for 21 years and aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of desiccation tolerance in resurrection plants in order to ultimately apply this towards the production of drought tolerant crops. One aspect of such research is understanding of the contribution of plant metabolites in this process.
Applications are invited for the fellowship from suitable qualified individuals.
The successful applicant will be working with Prof Farrant in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and will be required to conduct research on the chemical profiling of metabolites associated with dehydration and early rehydration in a range of resurrection plant species and contextualizing their role in tolerance of this stress. In addition, phytochemicals that have potential medicinal and cosmetic uses will be isolated, characterized and roles in healing and skin remediation assessed. Understanding of plant physiology will be a strong recommendation.
Conditions
- Applicants must have completed their doctoral degrees in biochemistry and or chemistry within the last 5 years and may not previously have held a permanent professional or academic post.
- No benefits or allowances are included in the Fellowship.
- As part of his/her professional development, the successful candidate may be required to participate in a limited capacity in departmental activities, such as teaching, student supervision, etc.
- The successful applicant will be required to comply with the university’s approved policies, procedures, and practises for the postdoctoral sector.
Value and tenure
The value of the fellowship is R 200,000 tenable for 1 year. This is renewable for up to 3 years based on performance.
Academic criteria
Applicants should have qualified with the doctoral degree in plant biochemistry/omics and preference will be given to candidates who have a working knowledge of general natural products chemistry and metabolomics techniques and have experience with machine learning. The applicant should be versed in GC and LC-MS data processing and the statistical computer language R.
The successful applicant will be required to register as a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cape Town immediately.
Application requirements
Applicants should submit a short description of their research interests, a CV including a publication list, copies of their academic transcripts, and email addresses of at least two references with whom the applicant has worked alongside, was taught by, or was supervised by. Please combine all these documents into one pdf file.
Selection process
Only eligible and complete applications will be considered by Prof. Jill Farrant.
Closing date
Applications must be submitted by no later than 1st November, 2021.
Contact details for submission of applications and for enquiries please contact Keren Cooper.
PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGIST - POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
PLANT STRESS GROUP
Purpose
The Plant Stress Group, under the leadership of Prof Jill Farrant aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in resurrection plants to ultimately apply this knowledge towards the production of drought tolerant crops. A multidisciplinary approach is utilized in which disciplines of molecular biology (for understanding of genes, proteins and metabolites associated with water loss, and their regulation) biochemistry/cell biology (for functional analysis of how protection is afforded and where it is located) and physiology/ecophysiology (to inform and contextualize responses). The research is at a stage where key genes and regulatory processes associated with tolerance of more extreme water loss have been identified and their efficacy in inducing drought tolerance in desiccation sensitive crop species must be assessed.
The work of this Fellowship will thus aim at developing a platform for transformation and testing of genes associated with extreme drought in select crops. Successful candidate genes will be permanently expressed/suppressed and relevant functional testing done. A key aspect to this work is an understanding of gene regulation and biotechnological approaches to plant transformation.
Applications are invited for the fellowship from suitably qualified individuals.
The successful applicant will be working with Prof Jill Farrant, in collaboration with Prof Ed Rybicki, A/Prof Inga Hitzeroth, from the Biopharming Research Unit, and Dr Suhail Rafudeen, within the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, and will be required to conduct research aspects of gene/protein expression and biotechnological transformation of gramineous and legume crops.
Conditions
- Applicants must have completed their doctoral degrees within the last 5 years may not previously have held a permanent professional or academic post.
- No benefits or allowances are included in the Fellowship.
- As part of his/her professional development, the successful candidate may be required to participate in a limited capacity in departmental activities, such as teaching and student supervision.
- The successful applicant will be required to comply with the university’s approved policies, procedures, and practises for the postdoctoral sector.
Value and tenure
The value of the fellowship is R 200,000 tenable for 1 year, with options for extension for a further 1-3 years.
Academic criteria
Applicants should have qualified with a doctoral degree covering aspects of plant molecular biology and biotechnology. They should demonstrate experience in techniques involving gene cloning, protein expression, plant transformation and be relatively familiar with bioinformatic and statistical tools. Understanding of plant physiology and experience in grant writing will be a strong recommendation.
The successful applicant will be required to register as a Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cape Town as soon as possible in 2021.
Application requirements
Applicants should submit a short description of their research interests, a CV including a publication list, copies of their academic transcripts, and email addresses of at least two references with whom the applicant has worked alongside, was taught by, or was supervised by. Please supply this in one PDF file.
Selection process
Only eligible and complete applications will be considered by the 3 PI’s of this research. Qualifying interviews will be given to top candidates.
Closing date
Applications must be submitted by no later than Monday 1 November, 2021.
Contact details for submission of applications and for enquiries please contact Keren Cooper