PARASITE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI
Applications are invited for a 4-year PhD fellowship and 3-year post
doc to study parasite evolution by combining ecological, evolutionary
and molecular approaches.
The project is centered on the interaction between host plant Plantago
lanceolata and its fungal pathogen Podosphaera plantaginis in the
Aland Islands in Finland. Prior research on this interaction has shown
that the pathogen persists as a metapopulation. Despite rapid turnover
of local populations there is evidence of rapid ongoing coevolution
between these species. In your project you will ask how processes at
different spatial scales - molecular, within host, within population
and metapopulation - affect the diversity and evolution of pathogens.
The studies will be carried within a spatially explicit framework: We
have epidemiological data on the occurrence of the pathogen in its
over 3000 host population collected since year 2001. Hence we know the
age of the local pathogen populations, and evolutionary dynamics can
be linked with epidemiological dynamics. In practice, you will carry
out field surveys in the Aland Islands, conduct experimental work in
the laboratory and genotype pathogen isolates using SNP markers.
The research group of Dr Anna-Liisa Laine is part of the
Metapopulation Research Group, Centre of Excellence appointed by the
Academy of Finland, where you?ll find a wide range of expertise
studying ecological and evolutionary questions within a spatial
framework.
Please send your application to by 10 May
2010. Attach a CV (with possible publications included), contact
details of two references, and a letter (MAX 1 page) with a
description of your research interests and why you would be a suitable
candidate for the project. The PhD project is scheduled to start in
the summer-autumn of 2010. There is more flexibility in the starting
date of the post doctoral position.
For more information, please contact Dr Anna-Liisa Laine
() and visit our website at
For information on the University of Helsinki, please visit:
Dr Anna-Liisa Laine
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Current contact 11/2009-8/2010:
Research Fellow, CSIRO Plant Industry
GPO Box 1600, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
Ph: +61-2-6246 4723 Fax: +61-2-6246 4950
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Metapopulation Research Group
Department of Biosciences
PO Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1)
FI-00014 University of Helsinki
FINLAND
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Jacqui Shykoff
Directrice de l'Ecole Doctorale 145/Sciences du Végétal, Université Paris
Sud 11
Laboratoire Ecologie, Systematique et Evolution
UMR 8079 CNRS-Université Paris-Sud 11-AgroParisTech
Batiment 360 Université Paris-Sud 11
F-91405 Orsay Cedex
Currently:
Centre for Advanced Study
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Drammensveien 78
N-0271 Oslo
++47 22 12 25 16