Doctoral Student: Food Systems Biotechnology 2063 views

The Food Systems Biotechnology (FSB) group, Department of Health Science and Technology at ETH Zurich has an open doctoral (PhD) student position. The FSB group develops bioinformatics methods and software for microbiome research, including QIIME 2, and applies these tools to study microbial ecosystems at the interfaces of foods, food systems, and human health.

Research Themes:

• Microbial ecology of food products and/or food production systems
• Computational modeling of microbial dynamics in the human microbiome
• Development of computational methods and software for studying microbiomes (e.g., metagenome, marker-gene, metabolome, or other “omics” data)

Requirements:

• Candidate must be self-motivated scientist with outstanding academic qualifications, superb inter-personal and written communication skills, and enthusiasm to engage with a collaborative team of scientists.
• Experience working with microorganisms and/or bioinformatics tools is required.
• Experience in microbiome research is an advantage.
• Doctoral students are expected to disseminate research findings in conference talks and journal articles, and excellent written and spoken English language skills are required.
• Candidate must also have a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Microbiology, Food Science, Biotechnology, Biology, Bioinformatics, or a related area.
• Experience in microbiology and/or bioinformatics
• Experience working with microbiome (marker gene, metagenome) or other omics data
• Programming experience (Python, R, UNIX/bash scripting)
• Evidence of effective scientific communication (publications and/or open-source software projects)

Applications:

Apply online with the following materials:

• A short statement of research interests and motivation (one page) that describes candidate’s suitability for the position, and desired timeline.
• A short research proposal (max. 2 pages) relating to one of the research themes.
• An updated curriculum vitae including a list of publications, education, and any relevant experience.
• Names and contact information of 2-3 professional references.