PhD student on translational control during host/pathogen interactions High-throughput applications such as next-generation sequencing are frequently applied in modern biological and medical research. Recent technology advancements enable protein translation measurement on the mRNA level by massive sequencing of ribosome-captured messenger RNA footprints.

Job description

The envisioned PhD work will focus on the crossroads between the state-of-the-art fields of high-throughput RNA sequencing and high-throughput positional proteome analysis. More specifically, translational control will be studied in the context of host/pathogen-interactions. Here, associated changes in gene expression upon bacterial infection (e.g. Salmonella), leading to the persistence or clearance of the pathogen and a host cell response will provide an unprecedented understanding of interactions between pathogen and host, next to enabling the identification of new pathogen virulence factors and host signaling cascades. The research will be performed in a multi-disciplinary environment within the Proteomics research group of the VIB Department of Medical Protein Research. The start date of the project is scheduled for mid-2015, but this is flexible depending on the availability of the successful candidate.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will have obtained or will obtain a Master’s degree in a relevant field of life sciences (e.g., biochemistry/biotechnology, biomedicine, bioinformatics, bioengineering) and will have a keen interest/knowledge in molecular biology and data mining. A starting contract of one year is offered and candidates should be eligible to submit a PhD research project to other funding agencies (e.g., FWO and IWT).

Experience with standard molecular biology techniques such as PCR, cloning, cell culture and genome-/proteome-oriented technologies is preferred. Experience with computational genomics or proteomics is considered an advantage.

How to apply

http://www.vib.be/en/jobs/Pages/PhD-Student-on-Translational-Control-during-Host-Pathogen-Interactions.aspx