Research Assistant

at  University College Cork

POSITION SUMMARY

The PHAGENET focuses on the role of phage transduction in the rapid microbial evolution in the human gut, dissemination of beneficial and detrimental (e.g. antibiotic resistance) genetic determinants, as well as its wider implications for microbial ecology. The research will involve an array of approaches, including long-read high-throughput sequencing, faecal chemostat models, random transposon insertion libraries in gut bacteria and animal colonisation models.
At the core of this project is an ex vivo anaerobic faecal microbial chemostat model, designed to enable exchange of virus-like particles (VLPs) between two spatially segregated microbial communities, allowing to monitor VLP-mediated gene flow and transfer of phage communities between individual microbiomes. Analysis of phage transduction and other modes of HGT in the complex community will be performed through tracking of transposon-labelled mobilised bacterial DNA, isolation and sequencing of individual bacterial cultures (strict anaerobes), shotgun metagenomics, long-read sequencing of virus-like particle (VLP)-associated DNA.
APC Microbiome Ireland was formed in 2003 and since then it has established itself as one of the leading global centres in gut microbiota research. The centre has made several landmark discoveries and has published over 3500 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, generating many journal covers and associated editorials. The APC is a lively trans-disciplinary environment with clinicians, clinician-scientists and basic scientists from diverse backgrounds working in teams, sharing ideas and resources.
UCC is an accredited research organisation and as such can form hosting agreements with third country nationals (and non-EEA nationals) for the purpose of conducting research in the University.
Project Title: PhaGeNet: phage mediated genetic networking in the human gut microbiome
Post Duration: 12 Months
Salary: €30,025 - €39,908 p.a. (IUA Research Assistant Scale)
For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/.
Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Andrey Shkoporov, Ph.D., APC Microbiome Ireland, Tel: + 353 (0) 21 490 1771; Email: andrey.shkoporov@ucc.ie
Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to recruitment@ucc.ie, quoting the job-title and project name.

Please refer the Job description for details