Postdoctoral Researcher in sawfly genomics and taxonomy

at  Oulun Yliopisto

The University of Oulu is a multidisciplinary, international research university, with about 3,600 employees who produce new knowledge based on high-standards research and provide research based education to build a more sustainable, smarter, and more humane world. The University of Oulu community has about 17,000 people in total. Our northern scientific community operates globally and creates conditions for the emergence of innovations.
We are now looking for a

POSITION DESCRIPTION

We will hire one (1) research-oriented, talented and industrious person to carry out post-doctoral research in the project of “Developing a Genomic Blueprint for a Bio-literate Future”. The post-doctoral researcher will focus on developing genomic tools for more accurate species delimitation of taxonomically problematic groups of sawflies. The studies will include use of e.g. shotgun sequencing of fresh tissues to recover USCO markers from specimens as well as sequencing old museum (type) specimens. Several sequencing platforms (ONT, PacBio, Illumina) will be utilized. Furthermore, the studies will focus on elucidation of the evolutionary causes of the presence of intra-individual variability of seemingly functional mitochondrial COI barcode marker in sawflies. The work will mostly focus on North European fauna. The research team has massive tissue collection of sawflies which will be largely used, but the work will also include field trips.
The postdoctoral researcher will conduct research (a four-year fixed-term), publish research results in international journals, present research in international conferences, and contribute to developing efficient DNA-based approaches to overcome the taxonomic impediment. Other duties include teaching in undergraduate courses (up to 10% of the total 1612 working hours per year) and co-supervising masters and doctoral students.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH TEAM

The Postdoctoral Researcher will work in an international and experienced research team of biodiversity scholars and taxonomists. The project is led by Prof. Marko Mutanen (U. Oulu, Finland). The key collaborators include Prof. Paul Hebert, Dr. Evgeny Zakharov (U. Guelph, Canada) and Dr Marko Prous (U. Tartu, Estonia).

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

We are searching for a candidate with the following skills:

• Doctoral degree in Biology or related discipline (no more than 10 years old).
• Demonstrated skills in bioinformatics with genomic data sets
• At least basic skills in programming
• Fluency in both written and spoken English
• Communication and teamwork skills
• Knowledge of the theory and practice in taxonomy and/or phylogenetics

In addition, we value:

• Strong demonstrated skills in programming
• Proven track record of securing competitive research funding
• Taxonomic knowledge of sawflies/other hymenopterans

Please refer the Job description for details