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Predoctoral researcher in Community Ecology

Job Summary

The Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), offers a full-time predoctoral researcher position to support the research activities in the context of the European Research Council (ERC) project GorBEEa (ID: 101086771), led by Dr. Ainhoa Magrach. This is a 5-year research project funded by the ERC that will be developed at the ‘Global change impacts on ecosystem functioning’ lab, and within the framework of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Line (RL3).

The applicant will work on the effects of honeybee introduction for plant and pollinator abundances, their interaction frequencies as well as the composition and functionality of wild bee gut microbiomes.

Job Description

Key responsibilities:

Sampling species (plants, insects) and ecosystem functions
Laboratory work: sorting and process samples, ID, DNA isolation, handling samples for sequencing, etc.
Analyse and visualize ecological and genomic data
Write manuscripts and disseminate results
Develop experimental design and analyses to study microbiomes and metagenomes to characterize bacterial and fungal communities in wild pollinator guts.
Apply molecular biology expertise in a lab-based setting and integrate traditional microbiology with bioinformatic and genomics analyses.
Develop expertise in pollinator microbial communities and contribute new knowledge and ideas to this area of research.
Develop and apply bioinformatics tools and approaches to identify communities, relevant taxa and associations.
Contribute to written and oral communication, including peer-reviewed manuscripts, blog posts, outreach through social media, and the public.
Archive data and maintains databases and contribute to budget management.
Support the organization of project meetings and conferences across the project.

Main requirements/skills:

Candidates who have completed a MSc/master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. Biology or Environmental Sciences, Molecular Biology, Microbiology) will have an advantage.
Strong analytical skills, good knowledge of statistics, and programming experience.
Proficiency in laboratory practice, experimental design, laboratory safety procedures. Proven wet lab experience (e.g. DNA and RNA isolation, PCR amplification, etc.)
Proficiency in bioinformatics. Knowledge of a scripting language (Bash, Python, Perl, etc.) and R.
A high level of computer literacy
Ability to read and interpret safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability and interest in communicating with diverse groups.
Ability to work collaboratively.
Ability to write reports, correspondence, and peer-reviewed manuscripts
Ability and interest in contributing to outreach activities.
Ability to contribute to a positive work environment built on trust and transparency that values different perspectives and backgrounds.
Drivers license and previous experience driving a four-wheel drive vehicle
The applicant must have good interpersonal and communication skills, as well as excellent written and oral command of English is required.
Desirable skills

Previous experience with liquid nitrogen and dry ice manipulation.
Ability to work with a high degree of independence.
Good command of Spanish and potentially Basque is not indispensable but desirable because the fieldwork will be carried out in a rural area in the Basque Country.
IMPORTANT: Applications including links to previous works/projects/initiatives that show how the applicant meets these requirements will be given priority.

Benefits

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